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LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 


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PURCHASED BY THE 
Mrs. ROBERT LENOX KENNEDY CHURCH HISTORY FUND. 


BROS 5S D4 WS 1925 
Waterston, Elizabeth. 


Churches in Delaware during 
the revolution 


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CHURCHES IN DELAWARE 
DURING 


THE REVOLUTION 


WITH A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THEIR 
SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH 


By 


Elizabeth Waterston 


Published by 
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE 


WILMINGTON - DELAWARE 


92/5 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https://archive.org/details/churchesindelawa00wate 


Deb eA Gr B 


The present study is an attempt to show the influence of 
religious forces in Delaware during the Revolution. It was 
begun in a seminar under Professor M. W. Jernegan, of the Uni- 
versity of Chicago, and subsequently revised under his supervision, 
and presented as a Master’s thesis. 


The writer wishes to take this opportunity to thank Professor 
M. W. Jernegan for his sympathetic directions in the course of 
her researches, and to show her appreciation for the interest taken 
in the work by Col. Geo. A. Elliott, President of the Delaware 
Historical Society, who has made provision for its publication. 
The assistance of Dean H. V. Ames, of the University of Pennsyl- 
vania, who gave valuable suggestions as to form, the approval of 
Mr. Walter G. Tatnall, formerly state archivist for Delaware, as 
to the authenticity of the material, and for critical readings by 
Judge Richard S. Rodney, ex-Judge David T. Marvel, Robert 
H. Richards, Attorney and others is fully appreciated. Re- 
sponsibility for the final form and contents rests entirely with 
the writer. 


The writer has had access to the libraries of the following 
institutions: The University of Chicago, The Library of Congress, 
the University of Pennsylvania, the Historical Society of Pennsyl- 
vania, the Free Library of Wilmington, and wishes to express 
her thanks to the officials of the same for their assistance 


March 5, 1925. E. W. 


CHAS. L. STORY COMPANY 
WILMINGTON, DELAWARE 


CHURCHES IN DELAWARE 
DURING 
THE REVOLUTION 


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CONTENTS 


PREFACE 
GCHoAPTERMLIEEINTRODECTION et ik <a ek oo) seo latiped tod 


CHAPTER IJ. SETTLEMENT AND’ GROWTH OF THE 
DENOMINATIONS 2): sian =) bat ce ae en ae em au 

Baptists 

Catholics 

Episcopalians 

Lutherans 

Methodists 

Presbyterians 

Quakers 


DAA EOP x 


CuaptTeR III. AtriruDE OF THE CHURCHES TOWARD THE 
REVOLUTION rete ote Seen Otero tattihe y < OT 


Ll 
° 


Baptists 
Episcopalians 
Methodists 
Presbyterians 
Quakers 


WEE Pp 


CuHapTerR IV. ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCHES TOWARD 
HOUCATION eee) poe ete ae ue and wien) aah hy cae 8) 
1. The Beginnings of Education 
2. The Dutch and the Swedes 
3. Baptist Education 


Pane er ate 


Episcopalian Education 
Presbyterian Education 
Quaker Education 


Wilmington Schools, 
(1) Private Schools 
(2) The Old Academy 
(3) Friends’ School 
Newark Academy, 

(1) Its Character 

(2) Its Importance 


Kent County Schools, 


(1) Character of the People in Kent County 


(2) Types of Schools 


Sussex County Schools, 


(1) The First Schoolmaster 


(2) The First Girls’ School in America 


CHAPTER V. SLAVERY IN DELAWARE DURING THE 


REVOLUTION. - - - - - - - - 
1. Laws Relating to Slavery 
2. The Baptists and Slavery 
3. The Episcopalians and Slavery 
4. The Lutherans and Slavery 
5. The Methodists and Slavery 
6. The Presbyterians and Slavery 
7. The Quakers and Slavery. 


CHAPTER VI. CONCLUSION. - - 


APPENDIX 


List or CHURCHES IN DELAWARE IN 1776 


i bp 
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By Denominations 
By Counties 


vill 


STATISTICAL TUABLES i muepaiisai ty Neva eam ern) at LOD 


1. Numerical comparison of churches by counties. 
2. Churches according to population in 1776. 


Diagram showing the comparison of the number of 
Churches in each denomination in 1776. 


Diagram showing the number of Churches in each County 
PCL 70s 
Diagram showing the numerical strength of the Patriots, 
Loyalists, and Non-Combatants in Delaware, in 1776. 


Diagram showing the numerical strength of the Patriots, 
Loyalists and Non-Combatants by Counties, in 1776. 











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CHAPTER I 


INTRODUCTION 


The period of the American Revolution is marked by many 
issues and events which involved the political, social and economic 
problems of the colonists in their relationship with the mother 
country. The attempt of the colonists to adjust the social ideals, 
and the political and economic schemes which they had brought 
with them, to their new environment, brought about a reaction 
which terminated in the Declaration of Independence, and, in- 
cidentally to their final separation from Great Britian. The first 
step toward independence was taken when the colonists came over 
from Europe; and every successive wave of immigration which 
came under the spell of the new environment tended to increase 
the desire for freedom. 


This situation was particularly true of Delaware, which had 
been subjected to a series of waves of immigration for more than 
a century before the Revolution. From Sweden, Holland, Eng- 
land, Wales, Ireland and Scotland they came, not in “single files, 
but in battalions.” In some cases, as for example, the Swedes 
and the Dutch, they formed colonial groups before they left the 
mother country, with the full sanction of their government to 
carry on trade with the Indians, and to act as an agency of trade 
between the old and the new world. On the other hand, some came 
over as fully organized religious groups, with ministers, church 
officers, and all other equipment ready to carry on religious 
worship according to their desires. Such an organization was the 
Baptist denomination who formed a group of sixteen members 
in Wales, together with their minister, came to America, and 
finally located in Welsh Tract. Furthermore, we have the 
Episcopalians coming over under the auspices of the English 
government, for the purpose of establishing the Church of England 
in America. The Quakers, too, entered the arena during the 
seventeenth century, under the protecting arm of the Penn 


Government, and took their places in little sections of the Penin- 
sula. Another denomination, the Presbyterians, however, came 
over in the seventeenth century, not as a group, but as individuals, 
unorganized, but peculiarly independent in their ideas of religion 
and government. With this view of the race elements and religious 
forces that entered into the early history of Delaware, we can 
more easily understand the forces that were at work among 
the various denominations at the time of the American Revolution. 


In the pages which follow, we must bear in mind that during 
the course of three quarters of a century many changes had taken 
place relative to the various denominations. We shall find out, 
as far as historical evidence has been available, that the Swedes 
and the Dutch, who represented the Lutherans, have been ab- 
sorbed by the English, or, to be more exact, the people of Great 
Britian; that the Quakers and the Baptists, who managed to stay 
on the stage from the time of their existence in America, were 
of little moment, as far as Delaware was concerned, at the out- 
break of the Revolution; that the Presbyterians and Episcopalians 
were still contending for supremacy, with more vigor than they 
had shown during the early years of their existence. In considering 
these denominations that were still intact at the outbreak of the 
Revolution, we shall try to present, in a small way, the work they 
have accomplished in the cause of education, the welfare of the 
negroes and the Indians; and, also, their general attitude toward 
the Revolution. 


Cry rat RTI 


SETTLEMENT AND GROWTH OF THE 
DENOMINATIONS 


THE Baptists 


The “Welsh Tract Church” has the distinction of being the 
first Baptist Church in Delaware. The history of this church is 
extremely interesting from the fact that it was organized in Wales 
a few weeks before starting for America, and arrived in this 
country a completely organized body; and from the fact that it 
has had a continuous existence from 1701 to the present time. 
This little company of sixteen, consisting of the same number 
of men and women,! was kindly received by the good people of 
Philadelphia, upon their arrival in September, 1701.2 However, 
they did not tarry there very long before they decided to go to 
Pennepeck, Pennsylvania, where there were other Baptists 
awaiting their arrival. But the same spirit which had induced 
them to leave their native land again became apparent, when, 
after eighteen months, finding that they could not agree with the 
members of Pennepeck congregation upon points of discipline, 
they determined to move to Delaware.* Fortunately for them, 
they had the advantage of a donation of land from Messrs. Evans, 
Davis and Willis,4 who had purchased about 30,000 acres from 
William Penn, in 1701, for the purpose of developing the iron 
industry around Iron Hill. ® 


Upon their arrival at Iron Hill, Pencader Hundred, New 
Castle County, Delaware, in 1703, they immediately began to 
build a meeting house, which was finished before the close of 


1Edwards, History of the Baptists in Delaware, (In Pa. Mag. of Hist. 


 Tbid. 
Ri onrad ti (erreshs 0) er. 11a Paaoe 


3 


the year.! Dame Fortune smiled on them as they went about 
their daily tasks, always bearing in mind that religion was the 
most important factor of life. Before the close of the same year 
more members had joined their ranks, including eleven men and 
eleven women who joined them during their sojourn in Pennepeck, 
one man and one woman from Wales, and six men and five women 
by baptism, making a total of fifty-one before the close of their first 
year in Delaware. In 1710, they had doubled their membership, 
from fifty-one to 102; by 1717 they could boast of three times this 
number.? Thus we have conclusive evidence that a religious body 
that could increase from sixteen to one hundred and sixty members 
from the time of their organization, or, in other words, one 
thousand per cent., must have had a tremendous influence upon 
the people with whom they came in contact. 


Although we have no available evidence to show that this 
rate of increase of membership continued up to the year 1736, it 
is safe to surmise that the church had been very active up to 
that time; for in that year twenty-two members left the mother 
church in Delaware to form a Welsh Baptist Church at what they 
called ““Welsh Neck,’’ on the Peedee River in South Carolina. 
That they were successful there is no doubt, for among these 
pioneer churchmen: were Abel Morgan, who became a noted 
minister, James James, a ruling elder, and Thomas Evans, a 
noted Deacon. But they did not leave this settlement alone to 
struggle against the hardships which were always to be found in 
the primitive regions of America, for in 1737, the records tell us 
that fifteen more members were added to their ranks. Again, 
from 1739 to 1741, forty-seven recruits were added to the Peedee 
Branch of the Welsh Tract Church. This devoted daughter of 
the mother church was also a credit to the Baptists, for we are 
told by the great historian of the Baptists, that by 1772 she had 
“shot out into seven branches.” * Thus we can see, to some extent, 
that the settlement of the Baptists in the Welsh Tract must have 
had a strong relationship to those of other colonies. 

1 Pa. Mag. of Hist., 1X, p. 49. 


2 Pennsylvania Magazine of History, 1X, pp. 49-51. 
*Titd., pp. 51-52. 


Of the other Baptist Churches in Delaware, at the outbreak 
of the Revolution, there seems to be some doubt. Mr. Vedder 
says: “The Welsh Tract Church was the only Baptist Church 
in Delaware for more than three-quarters of a century.”’ ! Morgan 
Edwards, author of Materials Towards a History of the Baptists 
in Delaware State, says that about “the year 1733 eight or nine 
families (chiefly members of the Welsh Tract Church) made a 
settlement at Duck Creek, in Kent County, from whence the 
same religion spread southward to Cowmarsh and Mispillion, 
westward to Georgetown in Maryland, and eastward to Fast- 
landing.” 2 The same author observes that two ministers of the 
Baptist faith came from Virginia in 1778-1779, and formed 
churches about 1779.3 There were also meetings at private 
houses, but no church was built until after 1791,4 in Broad 
Creek Hundred. The church at Cowmarsh came under the 
missionary influence of the Virginia preachers, and originated 
about the same time as that of the Sounds. *®> Duck Creek Church 
was probably organized before the Revolution, about 1771. 
According to Morgan Edwards, this church also branched out 
about 1785,7 but it kept within the confines of Delaware, or the 
neighboring states. 


Of these churches Duck Creek Baptist Church deserves a 
little more attention than the others; for we are inclined to believe 
that it was functioning about the time of the Revolution, if not 
when hostilities with the mother country cametoacrisis. Apparently 
the Presbyterians had settled there prior to 1733, and had services 
in a small church, which they afterwards abandoned. This 
building was used by the Baptists as a place of worship before 
1776. Although the congregation of this community was a 
strong branch of the Welsh Tract Church, up to the date of the 
Revolution, they did not establish a separate church until 1781. 

1 Vedder, History of the Baptists, p. 82. 

2 Pennsylvania Magazine of History, IX, p. 47. 

3 Tbid. 

‘ Tbid., p. 197. 

5 Ibid., p. 199. 

6 Ibid., p. 201. 


7 Tbid. 
8 Pennsylvania Magazine of History, UX, p. 203. 


5 


THe CAaTHOLICs 


About twenty-nine miles north of the Welsh Tract 
Church were a few Catholic families centered in a little village 
commonly known as Mount Cuba. In those days it was custom- 
ary for the wealthier Catholic families to have a room set aside 
for divine worship. Hence we find a wealthy Irish gentleman, 
called Cornelius Hallahan, who came to Delaware in 1730, 
extending the hospitality of his home for the cause of his religion. ! 
Here services were held for the benefit of the members of the 
Catholic faith, by Jesuits from Bohemia Manor, Maryland. 
According to the family records of Mr. Hallahan, services con- 
tinued in his home until a church was built at Coffee Run, in 
1785.2 From this evidence we may surmise that the home of 
Cornelius Hallahan was practically a Catholic Church at the 
time of the outbreak of hostilities between England and her 


colonies. 


But, aside from the evidence from the Catholics themselves, 
a further reason for the conjecture that there was a Catholic 
organization there in 1776, is furnished by Rev. Philip Reading, 
a missionary at Appoquinimy, in his report to the Society for 
the Propagation of the Gospel, in the years 1760 and 1775. He 
gave evidence that there was a Popish seminary in the neigh- 
borhood.* Yet, as far as any conclusive evidence is to be found 
for the year 1776, we do not feel justified in giving credit for 
anything but an inarticulate existence of this church. However, 
we do know that the Catholics are very conscientious about 
attending religious services, and, even today, when it is incon- 
venient for members of the family to attend church, if it is 
possible for them to afford it, they have little shrines built in 
their houses. For these reasons we have given the above Catholic 
church a place among the churches that were extant at the out- 
break of the Revolution. 

1 Records of the American Catholic Historical Society, I, 121-4. 

2 Ibid; p42: 


3 Perry, W. S., Papers Relating to the History of the Church in Pennsyl- 
vania, A. D. 1680-1778. pp. 313 and 468. 


In the lower part of New Castle County, the Apoquiniminck 
Mission was established by Jesuits from Bohemia Manor, Mary- 
land, before 1750. In this neighborhood, Father Matthew Sitten- 
berger purchased a farm in 1772. Some time afterwards, a chapel 
called St. Mary’s was built at Coffee Run, the name of the farm, 
in Mill Creek Hundred. Wedo not know the exact date of erection, 
but there is reason to believe that this mission was functioning at 
the time of the Revolution. The successor of Father Sittenberger 
was the Rev. Stephen Faure, one of the many Frenchmen driven 
from San Domingo during the negro insurrection. His assistant 
was the Rev. John Rosseter, who had been an offcer of Rochem- 
beau’s army, during the Revolutionary War. ! 


THE EPIscoPALIANS 


The earliest records of the Episcopalians who held services on 
the Delaware, give the Rev. John Yeo the credit for being the first 
minister. He apparently had his credentials sanctioned by the 
Court of New Castle, in December, 1677. On June 4th, 1678, he 
settled at New Castle, where he ministered to the people at irregu- 
lar periods until 1681.% Historians disagree about the exact date 
of the first establishment, but all of them admit that it was before 
1690. The Dutch objected to an English minister, and succeeded 
after a little manouvering in securing a minister of their own 
denomination.* The first permanent Episcopal church established 
in Delaware, was the Immanuel Church, in New Castle, founded 
in 1689. There are no records available to verify this date, but 
we have the circumstantial evidence to be found on a tablet which 
bears the inscription: “Founded, 1689, enlarged, 1820.”> But 
the clergy found little attraction in this community; and the first 
missionary sent there by the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel, left on his own accord to find a more agreeable location. ° 


1 Catholic World, Vol. 4, p. 692. 

2 Conrad, H. C., History of the State of Delaware, II, p. 758. 
3 Ibid, p. 758. 

4 Thid. 

5 Jhid. 

6 Jbid., p. 759. 


Next the Rev. Thomas Jenkins came for a year, and then went to 
Appoquinimy, a few miles away. His death a few months later 
is reported by the Rev. John Talbot, in a letter to the Society. 
He says: “Poor brother Jenkins at Appoquinimink was baited 
to death by mosquitoes and blood-thirsty gal-knippers, which 
would not let him rest day or night till he got a fever and died of a 
calenture; nobody that is not born there can abide there till he is 
mosquito proof.”! This serves as an illustration of the many 
tribulations that had to be borne by the poor missionaries who 
settled on the coast of Delaware at the beginning of the eighteenth 
century. 

The settlement and growth of the Episcopalians in Delaware 
is so closely allied with the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel that a brief outline of this venerable organization may 
not be amiss at this point, in order to understand their sudden 
growth at the beginning of the eighteenth century, and their 
gradual decline in the decade just preceding the Revolution. 
Through the influence of the Rev. Mr. Bray, of Maryland, a 
charter was secured in 1701.2 This document provided for “learned 
and orthodox ministers,” ? for the British colonies, and permitted 
the members to make such provisions as they would deem neces- 
sary for the “Propagation of the Gospel in those Parts.” Many 
noted bishops, and other prominent men of England, were made 
members of the Society, among whom the Bishop of London was 
the most active. The chief by-laws adopted by the Society 
were: (1) that an annual sermon should be preached by some 
member of the Society, when the reports of the business of the 
year were received; and, (2) that each officer should be compelled 
to take an oath binding him to the faithful discharge of his duties, 
before he could be recognized as fully qualified to undertake the 
position. 4 

According to a well organized plan of the Society, a com- 
mittee was sent to all the colonies to investigate the existing con- 

1 Conrad, H. C., History of the State of Delaware, II, 759. 

2 Perry, History of the American Episcopal Church, I, 138. 

3 New York Colonial Documents, VII, 362-364. 


4 The Charter of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts precedes every annual report. 


ditions. The result of this investigation was a report to the Society 
which revealed the fact that many other denominations were 
stationed in Delaware, in 1702, and most of them had crossed 
the ocean in order to be free from the restrictions of the Church 
of England. A record, which reminds us of the Domesday Book, 
was made of the location of all the dissenters and their beliefs, in 
order to find out where the Episcopal missionaries were most 
needed. So thoroughly was their inspection made that every 
section of the colony was visited; and so zealous did they become 
that they would often interrupt the Quaker meetings, in order to 
make.a speech for the cause of the established Church. When the 
Quakers objected to their proceedings, the committee accused 
them of resisting the Crown; because the Society for the Propaga- 
tion of the Gospel had been chartered by the Queen’s permission. ! 
Such was the spirit of the committee for investigation of the con- 
ditions, who claimed the general assumption that it was a persecu- 
tion of their denomination not to be held superior here as they 
were in England.? However, the investigation resulted in gaining 
many converts for the Church, and in an inspiration to build 
churches promiscuously over the country to such an extent that 
many of them were never occupied but at long intervals.* We 
can see, at the outset, that the Society was doing its uttermost 
to make the Church of England popular in the colonies; but it was 
handicapped from the beginning, and became more and more so 
toward the period of the Revolution, when the dissenters became 
an important factor in the affairs of the day. 


"In considering the work of the missionaries, in the process 
of the development of the Church in Delaware, we must bear in 
mind that they were not their own masters; that the small remuner- 
ation which they received from the Society was oftentimes barely 
enough to supply the common necessities of life; that their head- 
quarters was located in England. Consequently, we find them 
at many stages of their history, supplying several churches. For 

Bs History of Pennsylvania, I, 365-369. See, also, note. 

1a. 


3 See MS letter, quoted by Hawkins, in his Historical Notices, p. 35. 
4 Tiffany, 97-98. 


example, in 1724, three churches in New Castle County were 
under the guidance of one minister.1_ This condition of affairs 
was also true in Sussex County, where a missionary had to travel 
many miles in order to supply three congregations.? But the 
people of Kent County “had not been supplied with a settled 
minister for many years.” ® 

In 1723, some members of the Church of England in Kent 
County, again petitioned the Society for a missionary, stating 
that they had not had a “sound and faithful minister of Jesus 
Christ” since 1711; and that on account of this drawback some 
feared that many of their members would become converts of 
other denominations, such as the Presbyterians and the Quakers, 4 
if something was not done to check them. In their anxiety they 
write the Society in the following words: ‘‘Our house for religious 
worship built for the service of the Church of England, is empty,” 
while ‘““Meeting houses are full, enthusiasts abound, the Sabbath is 
profaned. The interest which the Church of England once had 
here is in great danger of being entirely lost.’’5 

We may probably raise the question why the people themselves 
who belonged to the Church of England did not aid in building 
up their churches, and in support of the missionaries. The 
answer could be supplied by Mr. Ross, of New Castle, in his 
account of the Church in 1727. According to his report, the great 
mass of the people were poor, such as retail merchants who sold 
“Goods, Rum, Sugar, and Molasses - - - Carpenters, Smiths and 
Shoe Makers.”® It is true that about one hundred or more families 
belonged to the Church at this time, as compared with twenty 
families in 1706, and that the people were usually more prosperous 
than people of the same class in England were, who had similar 
occupations.’ Nevertheless, inasmuch as the missionary was 
concerned, there was little attempt on the part of his congregation 
to insure a decent salary corresponding with their own prosperity. 


1 Collections of the Protestant Episcopal Historical Society, 1851, p. 122. 
2 Ibed., pi 122. 

3 Thid. 

4 Perry, Historical Collections, V, p. 38. 

5 Perry, Historical Collections, Vol. V, p. 39. 

6 Thid., p. 46. 

7 Ibid. 


IO 


Of course, gifts were sent for the adornment of the Church, and for 
its repairs; but no benefactions worthy of note were ever sent to 
the ministers or the schoolmasters.! The reports show that at 
this time there were great numbers of dissenters,—four Presby- 
terian meeting houses, one Anabaptist church, and two Quaker 
Meeting Houses, including one Lutheran, which was, practically 
of the same form of religion as that of the Episcopalians. 2 
All these dissenters gave willingly to the support of their own min- 
isters, and to the teachers when ministers could not be supplied. 
But, in spite of all these discouragements, another annoyance 
was added to the trials of the missionaries, in 1727, when the 
new Governor granted to the Presbyterians the right to issue 
marriage licenses. This provision not only deprived the mission- 
aries of an extra fee, but, as they interpreted it, took from them 
a legal right, “since the very form of the license plainly shows that 
they cannot be granted, legally, by anyone but a Minister of the 
Church of England.” 4 Naturally, the Episcopalians were exasper- 
ated at the turn of events which gave their enemies, the Presby- 
terians, so much power. One gentleman boldly suggested that it 
would be well if the king would take possession of the peninsula of 
Delaware while the title of it was under dispute between Lord 
Delaware and Penn’s heirs. Then he could bestow it upon the 
Society, who could raise money on it to pay the missionaries, 
and the support of a “Bishop of Suffragan.”® “It would be a 
popular act, and would make a noise in England, and the people 
here would be glad to have the Society their landlords.” ® 


During the years which followed after 1727, there was 
practically little change in the lives of the missionaries. There 
were times of great encouragement, but this was speedily counter- 
acted by the successes of the dissenters. At the beginning of the 
Revolutionary War we find them with only twelve churches, four 
in New Castle County, three in Kent County, and five in Sussex 

1 Perry, Historical Collections, V, p. 46. 

2 Ibid, p. 46. 

3 Ibid, p. 47. 

‘ Ibid. p. 49. 


5 Tbid, p. 50. 
6 Perry, Historical Collections, V, p. 50. 


II 


County.!_ We can not blame the missionaries for the peculiar 
situation in which they were involved, for they had fought a good 
fight in their endeavors to do their duty, as far as their consciences 
dictated; but they were so completely tied up with the affairs of 
Church and State from a strictly English standpoint that they 
failed to realize that they were living in “the land of the free 
and the home of the brave.” 


THE LUTHERANS 


Passing to the Lutherans we shall find that they are so much 
like the Episcopalians that we are inclined to list them in the 
same class. Forming a Swedish settlement during the latter part 
of the seventeenth century, and under the direct control of the 
Swedish government in Europe, they were strictly Swedish in 
their manners and customs, and in their forms of religious worship. 
But beinga small settlement, surrounded on all sides by the English 
colonists, they were soon amalgamated as they came into close 
relationship with their neighbors, by marriage, in social affairs, 
in political affairs, and also in their religious worship. The younger 
generations, growing up, quickly adopted the methods and 
customs of the British peoples, insisting on speaking the English 
language, and demanding the services of the English-speaking 
preachers and teachers. 


To them belongs the honor of having one of the oldest churches 
in existence, extant in the United States at the present time. 
History records that the Swedes first landed on the shores of 
Christiana river, in Delaware, under Peter Minuit, in 1638, 
where they erected a fort, which they named Christina in honor 
of their queen.? One of their first cares, after they had obtained 
a shelter, and a protection against the Indians, was to build a 
place for divine worship,? within the fort. Services were con- 
ducted in this little log house until the death of their first minister, 
Torkillus, in 1643. After his death, meetings were held until 
1667, when the Crane Hook Church was built, on an area of rather 

1 See tables of denominations. 


2 Ferris, p. 52. 
5’ Kinsman, The Old and the New, p. 3. 


12 


low ground, not far from the old site. Missionaries were sent by 
the Swedish Lutheran Church in Europe to supply the needs of 
this community. Bjork, a missionary sent over by the King of 
Sweden, about 1697,! advised the members of the Crane Hook 
Church to build a more durable edifice of stone, on a more suitable 
location. The church, under Bjork’s directions, was completed 
in 1698, and was formally dedicated on Trinity Sunday, 1699. 
It was named “Holy Trinity Church,” in honor of the day. ? 


Since this church is one of the few seventeenth century 
churches in the United States that has remained intact up to the 
present time, a description of this unique building, as given in a 
letter by Bjork, November 19, 1700, to a clergyman in Sweden, 
may not be out of place. He says: 


“Shortly after my arrival at this place I persuaded the con- 
gregation to agree in selecting a better place for a church than 
Tran-Hook, to-wit, Christina: and I immediately commended 
the work in the Lord’s name, though with little money: but I 
never doubted, notwithstanding my unworthiness, of Divine 
assistance. I therefore made a bargain with bricklayers and 
carpenters and bound them and me so strongly, that otherwise 
the work would not have been finished in less than three years. 
We laid the first stone at the north corner on the 28th day of May, 
1698. The size of the church, inside the walls, is sixty feet in 
length, thirty feet in breadth, and twenty feet in height. The 
walls are of hard gray stone, up to the windows three and a half 
feet thick, but above that only two feet. 


“There are four doors; a large one at the west end, and a 
smaller one at the south. There are two smaller ones on the 
north side, one of which leads into the vestry room. There are 
two windows on the north, and two on the south, all of the same 
size; but there is a larger one at the east end. The roof is arched 
with logs, and plastered. It is covered with cedar shingles. 


“‘The pews in the church are made of fir; the chancel is cir- 
cular, and the inner banisters as well as the pulpit, are of walnut 


1Kinsman, The Old and the New, pp. 3-4. 
2 Ibid, p. 4. 


T3 


wood well turned. There is a single aisle, eight feet in breadth, 
from the chancel to the large door, and (one) across the (said) 
aisle from the north door to that on the south. Between the 
chancel and the first row of pews there is also a little way, with 
six pews on each side, to the cross aisle. There are also long pews 
along the wall for the men, from the south door to the east end; 
and there are seats in the chancel for the ministers. In the lower 
part of the church, from the north and south doors to that on the 
west, there is a large aisle, with eight pews on each side.” ! 


At the time of the Revolution this old church was still used 
by the Swedes as a place of worship; but the people that attended 
the services were a mixed race, with their language almost entirely 
changed, the younger generation of Swedes preferring to speak 
English rather than their native tongue. In fact, the building which 
has been described by the old Swedish minister, was practically 
all that was left of the early Swedes. 


THE PRESBYTERIANS 


It is not exactly known at what particular period the Presby- 
terians began to settle in Delaware; but historians tell us that at 
some period before 1692, a Presbyterian minister, Samuel Davies, 
was at work in Sussex County.? Isolated communities were not 
uncommon in the colonies during the seventeenth century; and, 
since the Presbyterians were not organized at this time, it is not 
surprising that we hear little of them. 


The attempt to impose Episcopacy upon the Presbyterians in 
Scotland and Ireland, caused thousands of them to emigrate to 
America, where they could worship God according to their religious 
preferences. Many of these emigrants were well educated, and had 
been used to law and order in their manner of worship in their 
native land; and it was not long before they were formed into an. 
organized body, as befitted their character. To this organization, 
Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania churches 
Beh Beas Benj., History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware, pp. 


2 Briggs, American Presbyterianism, pp. 123-124. 
8’ American Church History series, Vol. VI, p. 19. 


14 


belonged.! In these provinces, the proprietors had granted re- 
ligious liberty; and for this reason, also, the Presbyterians saw fit to 
emigrate to America. The Presbyteries soon increased in numbers 
as emigrants continued to enlarge their ranks, or as members from 
other denominations became converted to their belief. Hence, 
it was found necessary, in September, 1716, to establish a Synod, 
by dividing the original organizations into four Presbyteries. 
This was the beginning of the effective work of the Presbyterians 
in Delaware, under the influence of the Presbytery of New Castle, 
and, at a later period the Presbytery of Lewes, which held juris- 
diction over Maryland, and a part of Pennsylvania, as well as 
part of Delaware.? 


In 1717, there were churches organized at New Castle, Head 
of Christina, Appoquinimy, or Drawyers’, Welsh Tract, under 
the charge of the New Castle Presbytery.* During the next 
thirteen years others were added to the list of members. Most of 
the ministers who belonged to this Presbytery were either Scotch- 
Irish or Scotch. There were also seventy-five elders who attended 
the Presbytery of New Castle. * In the meantime the Presbyterians 
had spread out to the lower part of the Peninsula; and by 1735, 
four ministers of this section of country asked that they have a 
Presbytery of their own. Permission was granted by the Synod 
of Philadelphia, on September 22, 1735, to form the Presbytery 
of “Lewis-Town.”® A schism in 1741, brought about another 
Presbytery of New Castle;7 but the breach was healed in 1758, ° 
after duly considering that disunion would cripple the interests of 
the Presbyterian church.? The two New Castle Presbyteries 
united a short time after the meeting of the Synod of Philadelphia, 
and this made the Presbyterians a strong factor in the Peninsula. 

1 Records of the Presbyterian Church, p. v. (1904 edition) 

2 Vallandingham, History of the Presbytery of New Castle, p. 3. 

3 Ibid., p. 3. 

‘ Tbid., p. 7. 

5 Ibid., p. 8. 

8 Tbid., p. 9. 

7 Ibid., p. 10. 


ST bids thls 
9 Records of the Presbyterian Church, 1766-1777. (1904 ed. p. 284.) 


15 


The strength of the Presbyterians in Delaware which was 
listed in the struggle with Great Britian, may be estimated, 
approximately, by making a comparison of the Presbyteries which 
belonged to the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, in 1775. Of 
the eleven Presbyteries in the Synod, two were centered in the 
colony of Delaware.! Of the ministers from the colonies repre- 
sented, fifteen out of one hundred thirty-five were from the Presby- 
tery of New Castle, five out of one hundred and thirty-five from 
the Presbytery of Lewestown, making a total of twenty out of 
one hundred and thirty-five ministers from the Delaware Pres- 
byteries. ? 


THE QUAKERS 


The Quakers, as everyone knows, had their origin, in America, 
in Penn’s colony, about 1682.3 No doubt this benevolent pro- 
prietor permitted his colonists to wander where they “listeth;”’ 
for we find many Friends had found their way to Delaware about 
this time. Their first meetings were held in private houses; but 
it was not long before meeting-houses, such as they were, became 
necessary for the convenience of the brotherhood. Among some 
of the earlier meeting-houses in Delaware may be mentioned the 
following: 


TOS 212 Soe AT yee ee ene Brandywine? 
L688 Se a ee rae Newark 4 

EIS pe ie eee New Castle > 
TIE i eee hee ee Duck Creek ® 
L707 Meee poe eee George’s Creek? 
T7OB iii) s ais cay ee nee Center 8 


1 Briggs, American Presbyterianism, p. 342; The Records of the Pres- 
byterian Church name 12 Presbyteries extant in 1775, with 135 ministers. 

2 See Records of the Presbyterian Church, 1775. 

3 Bowden, History of the Society of Friends, I1, 404. 

4 Michener, Retrospect of Early Quakerism, 95. 

5 Ibid., 95. 

6 Jbid., 111. 

7 Ibid., 112-113. 

* Jbid., 94. 


16 


LBs aga eee oe rte Mill Creek! 
TI Saeey ee RPT Hockessin 2 
W730U ee eat eee, Waning tons 


An examination of them will show that all of these early 
settlements were in New Castle County, with the exception of the 
Duck Creek meeting-house, which was in Kent County. Most 
of them were not very far from the present boundary line of 
Pennsylvania. | 

The spread of the Quakers in the colonies during the early 
part of the eighteenth century was much more rapid than it was 
in the second and third quarters of the century. The reason for 
this change may have been due to the fact that the more progressive 
denominations were forcing the slow-going Quakers out of their 
original abodes, or that they weakened their ranks to such an 
extent that they ceased to exist as a religious body. It appears 
that they kept close to the shores of Delaware Bay, passing 
southward, slowly yet surely, until by 1750 they had meeting-houses 
at Newark, Center, New Castle, Wilmington, Duck Creek, 
Mush Million Creek, Little Creek, and Lewestown.* Then they 
began to thin out, partly because of intermarriage with other 
denominations, or because they joined the churches of other 
denominations; and, to some extent, from the fact that they had 
little influence in the communities of Delaware after they had 
displayed such opposition to any method of warfare in 1756, and 
again in 1763.4 

By 1776, there were six Quaker Meeting-houses in New Castle 
County, five in Kent County, and three in Sussex County, making 
a total of fourteen meeting-houses in the colony.> This was an 
increase of the number reported in 1750; but the attendance at 
their meetings must have been very small, judging from the reports 
sent to the Quarterly meetings.* There are instances wherein the 

1 Jhid., 103. 

2 Tbid., 95, 103. 

3 Bowden, II, 248-249. 

4 Michener, 31, 33. 


’ See table showing churches by Counties. 
6 Michener, 33. 


17] 


Friends “grew careless of attendance,” as in the case of the New 
Castle Meeting, which finally resulted in depriving the delinquents 
of certain privileges.! In some cases the establishment of Meeting- 
Houses too close together caused the decline of the weaker ones. ? 
But, perhaps the chief cause of their decline was that William 
Penn’s dominant principles no longer prevailed after 1756; the 
election which followed the defeat of General Braddock, in 1755, 
resulted in two-thirds of the members of the Assembly being of 
the war party. After this period the Quakers ceased to have 
control over the government of Pennsylvania, and, consequently 
over Delaware. The “golden age” of the Quakers was at an end 
when they lost control in civil affairs. 3 


With respect to the number of the Quaker organizations in 
Delaware at the time of the Revolution, it is dificult to come to 
any conclusion. Mr. Conrad, in his History of the State 
of Delaware, says they were “never. numerous.‘ Likewise, we 
have the testimony of Dr. Bray, who observes, in 1700: “And 
tho’ the Quakers brag so much of their Numbers and Riches— 
yet they are not above a twelfth part in number, and bear not 
that proportion, that they would be thought to do, with those 
of the Church, in Wealth and Trade.’ 5 


THE METHODISTS 


Strictly speaking, the Methodists do not belong within the 
limits of the period 1775-1776, since they were not organized into 
local churches; but they at least deserve some mention on account 
of the interest which they aroused among the people of Dela- 
ware at that time. It appears that a few seeds of Methodism were 
sprinkled along the highways and by-ways of the northern part of 
the Peninsula, as early as 1769. How many of them took root, we 
are not prepared to say. Bishop Asbury records in his journal, 
on the day that he dedicated the Methodist Church in Wilmington, 

1 Toid., 94. 

2 Ibid., 95. 

3 Bowden, II, 160. 


4 Conrad, II, 768. 


oo Source Book and Bibliographical Guide for American Church History, 
p. 236. 


18 


named “‘Asbury” in honor of him, as follows: ““Thus far we are 
come, after more than twenty years’ labour in this place.” ! 
Without a doubt, Bishop Asbury referred to a period when Captian 
Webb was traveling through the Middle colonies in 1769. People 
who were living three-quarters of a century later claim that they 
could remember that he preached in ‘“‘the woods”’ north of Wil- 
mington, and along the banks of the Brandywine, besides other 
places in the neighborhood.? If this is true, Captain Webb was 
the apostle that introduced Methodism into Delaware. 


Methodism at this time, it must be remembered, was something . 
to be shunned by the orthodox believers; but there were thousands 
of people in Delaware who cared little for the word of God. 
Hence, when the Methodists came, with an entirely new way of 
presenting an old subject, the novelty of the thing attracted 
many hundreds who had not heard the gospel in many years. 
Few, however, were bold enough to open their doors to these new 
comers, lest they should bear the condemnation of their neighbors. 
Robert Furness, of New Castle, who was willing to bear the pangs 
of “outrageous suffering” was the first to welcome the Methodist 
preachers into his home; and as a result lost his customers at the 
public house which he kept in the town. 3 


From another source we have the tradition about a Miss 
Cloud being converted while Captain Webb was preaching in the 
woods around New Castle and Wilmington; and that she in turn 
convinced her brother Robert, of Brandywine Hundred, to have 
Methodism preached at their house.4 Shortly afterward a small 
society was organized; and in the course of time a chapel was 
built, called Cloud’s chapel. Robert Cloud became one of the 
first preachers in Delaware, and others of the same family became 
leaders in the work of the Methodists.’ They probably preached 
to the scattered communities about Wilmington and New Castle, 
and in their own neighborhood in the extreme northern part of 


1Lednum, Rise of Methodism in America, p. 55. 
2 Jitd., p. 56. 

3Lednum, Rise of Methodism in America, p. 56. 
4 Tbid., xv. 

5 Tbtd., Xvi. 


19 


the colony. There is nothing in the records to indicate that a 
Methodist chapel was built before the war began. 


A few attractive features concerning Methodism may be in 
keeping with the subject. It is of interest to know that among the 
sacred relics of Delaware one of the most famous is Barratt’s 
chapel, generally known as the “Cradle of Methodism.” It was in 
this spot where the church stands today that Thomas Coke and 
Francis Asbury first met on American soil; it was here that pre- 
liminaries for the formation of the Methodist church Conference 
was planned; it was here that the first authorized Methodist 
preachers in America administered sacramental ordinances to the 
people.! This little church has also the distinction of being the 
“third oldest Methodist church in the world.” 2 


But, however interesting these facts may be, they do not 
warrant us to give the Methodists a place among the denominations 
that had churches extant at the beginning of hostilities between 
England and the colonies. Societies were probably formed, but 
they were so scattered that they had no definite congregations. 
Therefore, they can not be considered as organized churches. 


1 Barratt, N.S., Barrat’s Chapel and Methodism, p. 3. 
2 Tbid., p. 4. 


20 


CHAP TERSUT 


ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCHES TOWARD THE 
REVOLUTION 


THE BaptTIsTs 


As a sect the Baptists had always been adverse to civil 
coercion in religious affairs; and, consequently, they hailed the 
Revolution with joy. To them, if successful, it would mean that 
they would be delivered from “oppression abroad and tyrants 
at home.”! In many parts of the colonies, they had been com- 
pelled to disregard laws which they could not conscientiously 
obey; and, as a result, they had suffered loss of life and property. ? 
The Revolution opened up to them new fields of action; tt gave 
them an opportunity to overrun the Establishments through 
political and social influence among the patriots. Can we wonder 
at their enthusiasm in the cause for independence, when it resulted 
in their status being raised among their political associates? 
Naturally, they resolved to take every advantage of their new 
position. With this determination in mind, they met in their 
Association, and discussed, calmly and deliberately, how they 
should proceed to obtain their civil and religious liberty; and when 
they had decided on a course to pursue, they followed it consistently 
to the close of the Revolution. 


One of the first movements of the Philadelphia Baptist 
Association was to call the attention of their members to the 
importance of joining their forces with the Continental Congress. 
They willingly offered their services for the cause of liberty. Not 
only did they bring money, goods, food, and other necessities 

1 Armitage, History of the Baptists, p. 789. 


2 Tbid., 776. 
3 Hawkes, History of the Episcopal Church in Virginia, p. 


om | 


for carrying on the war, but offered their lives, if need be; and 
they entered into some of the hardest conflicts of the Revolution. ! 
When we consider what was actually accomplished by the Baptists, 
we are reminded of the words of George Washington to a com- 
mittee of Virginia Baptists, who had consulted him about the 
security of their civil rights and religious freedom. He says: 
“T recollect with satisfaction that the religious society of which 
you are members has been throughout America, uniformly and 
almost unanimously, the firm friend of civil liberty, and persevering 
promoters of our glorious Revolution.” 2 Then, coming more 
directly to the colony of Delaware, we have the testimony of John 
Adams, who was not only kindly disposed toward the Baptists, 
who “gives our people credit for bringing Delaware from the Gulf 
of Toryism to the platform of patriotism.” ® 


Besides material aid graciously offered to Congress, the Phila- 
delphia Baptist Association supported the cause in a spiritual way, 
by humility before God, by prayer for their country, and by observ- 
ing certain fast days during the year.4 Thus, they were influential 
in bringing before the minds of their associates the seriousness of 
the war. In this time of stress and trial, they did not forget to 
express their gratitude for the benefits they had received as 
compared with their brethren who were suffering in the New 
England States from civil oppression as well as religious restrictions 
from the colonists themselves. They realized that in unity 
there is power; and at their meeting in Philadelphia, October, 
1776, they issued a circular letter, which urged their brethren to 
‘Take heed to maintain peace among yourselves in these days 
of confusion.’ 6 


Many of the Baptist ministers acted as chaplains in the 
American army, throughout the greater part of the war. Among 
these were the great patriot, Dr. Rodgers,’ who was in the Conti- 


1 Cathcart, Baptists and the American Revolution, p. 27. 

? Writings of George Washington, Sparks edition, XII, 154-155. 
3 Adams, C. F., Life and Works of John Adams, Vol. X, p. 812. 
* Minutes of the Philadelphia Baptist Association, p. 155. 

5 Thid., p. 156. 

6 Minutes of the Philadelphia Association, p. 155. 

’ First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, p. 51. 


22 


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nental army, and Rev. David Jones, brigade-chaplain under 
General Wayne. But, there isa gloomy side to this commendable 
record, for Morgan Edwards, who spent the latter part of his life 
in Delaware, was a loyalist. One of his sons joined the British 
army, and another entered the service of the Colonial army. ! 


THE EPISCOPALIANS 


In contrast to the Baptists, the Episcopalians were, in general, 
kindly disposed toward England; and when the crisis came to 
decide whether to belong to the loyalists or to the patriots, most 
of the ministers were in favor of leaving the country rather than 
give up their principles with respect to the mother country. But 
even before the crisis came, there was strong evidence of their 
attitude relative to the civil and religious rights of the colonists. 2 
It is generally known that while the Stamp Act, and other restric- 
tions, were threatening the civil liberty of the colonists, a project 
was being cautiously, but resolutely, cherished by the English and 
colonial Episcopal ascendency in the colonies. This caused a re- 
action among the dissenters, who united among themselves to 
prevent legislation that would injure their civil and religious 
liberty.? This episcopacy which our forefathers dreaded, was one 
which had the power to exercise over civil and religious affairs, 
one which would “impose tithes and church rates, and set ecclesi- 
astical courts,” which would be sure “‘to encroach on the rights of 
conscience.” 4 


As a rule, the clergymen of the Episcopal church were in 
hearty sympathy with the movement for an Episcopacy, but they 
had not the least sympathy for the cause of liberty. With very 
few exceptions, they leaned to the British crown; in religious as 
well as in civil affairs. Thus we can see that the protests of the 
colonists were not merely against a piece of stamped paper, or a 


1Sprague, Annals of the American Pulpit, (Baptists) p. 87. 

2 Gillett, History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, I1,p.165. 
3 Thid., 164-165. 

4 Gillett, I, 177. 


few extra pennies paid on tea, but it was a contention for their 
civil rights, for freedom of conscience, and for religious liberty. ! 


An examination of the reports of the missionaries in Delaware 
to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts 
will give some idea of the status of the Episcopal churches a few 
years previous to the Revolution. We cannot fail to observe a 
weakening of the strength of the Episcopalians, as compared with 
the increase of the numerical strength of the dissenters. Their 
weakness is shown, also, by the lack of ministers in their own de- 
nominations, and by the decrease in the number of letters from 
the missionaries.? But, we also gain from these letters an expres- 
sion of the attitude of the clergy toward the Revolution. Mr. 
Reading, of Appoquinimy, Delaware, tells of the state of the 
Church in 1775. In March of that year, he writes that the Church 
“continues in as good a state as can be expected in these times of 
threatening danger.” He shows very clearly his attitude toward 
his mother country, in this same letter, when he says: “Many 
are the rebuffs I am obliged to encounter on the subject of the 
present commotions, notwithstanding which I am not deterred 
or discouraged from inculcating the principles of Loyalty to our 
most gracious Sovereign and a due submission to the Powers of 
Government on all proper occasions.” 3 


That he remained firm and steadfast in maintaining these 
principles throughout the Revolution is evident from a letter to 
the Society, written a year later. His letter is so well written, and 
shows to such a large extent the characteristics of the people of 
Delaware, as well as the attitude of the clergy, that a full perusal 
of the letter may be interesting. It follows: 


5 Gillett, "1, po b/7; 

2 Classified pee of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign 
Parts, 1765-1776. 

3 Perry, W. S., Historical Collections relating to the American Colonial 
Church, Vol. II, p. 469. 


24 


Extract: 
Appoquiniminck,! March 18, 1776. 
Reverend Worthy Sir: 


“T had the honor of addressing a letter to you in September 
last containing (among other particulars relative to my Mission), 
the following paragraph: 


“T should now proceed in my account of some other difficulties 
to which I have been particularly liable as a Missionary here if 
everything in a private nature was not quite absorbed in the general 
distress with which we are all overwhelmed by the unhappy 
disputes subsisting betwixt Great Britian and her Colonies. It is 
hardly possible especially since the’ commencement of the late 
hostilities to avoid taking part on one side or the other of the dis- 
pute. Much industry has been used to render me obnoxious to 
the popular resentment as being inimical to the measures prose- 
cuting here in opposition to the Parliamentary authority of the 
present state. No more passive obedience and non resistance has 
been scribbled with a pencil on my Church door. It was urged 
as a just cause of complaint against one of the Captains of the 
Militia that he had lugged his company to Church on the day of 
a public fast to hear that old wretch (meaning myself) preach, who 
was always an enemy to the present measures. Threats have been 
used to deter me from reading the prayers for the King but hitherto 
I have stood firm andmy answers to these representations is that 
having taken the oath of allegiance to his present Majesty, having 
vowed canonical obedience at my ordination and when I was 
licensed by the Bishop, and subscribed the Liturgy of our Church, 
I do not think myself at liberty to dispense with these solemn 
obligations but shall persevere by God’s Grace in complying with 
them. As to my immediate Flock I have the comfort to say that 
in general I live with them on the best terms and it is probably 
owing to some Gentlemen of influence and authority among them 
that notwithstanding the danger of the times I continue on a 
respectable and useful footing in this place. 


1The spelling of this word varies. 


25 


“T beg leave to trouble you with a repetition of the above 
paragraph because the letter which contained it was seized (among 
a number of others from different people), on board a ship bound 
for London, brought back to Philadelphia and submitted to a 
Committee of inspection as being of dangerous tendency or at 
least as impeaching the propriety of the public proceedings. The 
Committee, I am informed, after consideration thought proper to 
dismiss the letter as not liable to the censure which upon the first 
perusal it seemed to deserve. 

“My Honorable Patrons are so well apprised of the present 
temper of America and how dangerous it is become to speak or 
write on public business that I shall readily be excused if I do 
not enlarge on so tender a subject. My letter above referred to 
having passed examination induces me to present you with a 
repetition of it, and while the pen is in my hand (tho’ my arm 1s 
so weak and lame that I am scarcely able to guide it), I will 
venture to add that I continue steadfast in the same sentiments 
determined at all events to adhere thro’ Divine assistance to my 
oaths of allegiance, ordination vows, subscription to the articles 
of the liturgy of our Church, and those principles of gratitude 
which I owe to the Venerable Society under whose protection I 
have exercised the Ministry and by whose bounty during thirty 
years I have been assisted with a comfortable support. 


“YT have the honor to be with all duty and respect 


Reverend worthy Sir, etc., 


Puittip REApING’’! 


This letter by the Rev. Mr. Reading is self-explanatory, 
and needs no further comment as to the relationship of the clergy 
with the government of England. But, since we have selected Mr. 
Reading as typical of the missionaries in the colonies, a few 
extracts from a long letter written to the Society on August 25, 
1776, may enlighten us as to the subject in hand. At this time 
two facts stand out as problems to be met in the future, namely, 
the loss of his position as a missionary, and the means to make 


1 Perry, Historical Collections, 11, p. 483. 


26 


a living for his family.! Naturally he seeks advice and relief from 
the Honorable Society, his benefactors for more than thirty years. 
The dilemma into which he had been entangled is explained, and 
he is like a boat without a rudder in a sea of troubled waters. 
“The Church of England as by law established has no longer an 
existence in those parts of America which are denominated 
The Free and Independent States,’ he says. He explains his 
reasons for the assertion as follows: “I look upon the King’s 
supremacy and the constitution of the Church of England to be 
so intimately blended together that whenever the supremacy is 
either suspended or abrogated the fences of the Church are then 
broken down and its visibility is destroyed. This is actually the 
case in the present instance. On the second day of July the 
Congress at Philadelphia were pleased to declare the Colonies 
which had united in opposition to the measures of Great Britian 
‘Free and Independent States.’ Upon this Declaration it was 
judged incompatible with the present policy that his Majesty’s 
authority within the new states should any longer be recognized. 
In this sentiment the generality of our Clergy (as far as has hitherto 
come to my knowledge) dismissed all those prayers from the public 
service of the Church wherein the names of the King and the 
Royal Family are mentioned, and adopted in their stead a prayer 
for the Congress which is no other, if I am rightly informed, than 
the Prayers for the High Court of Parliament altered and suited 
to the present occasion. ‘Most gracious God’ say they, ‘we humbly 
beseech thee as for the States of America in general, so especially 
for the High Court of Delegates in Congress at this time assembled, 


»> 999 


etc, etc. 


Apparently, Mr. Reading could not make up his mind what to 
do in the emergency. Ever since he had “entered the ministry” 
he had been faithful to his vows, and would frequently read them 
over; but under the stress of the present circumstances he had 
studied and pondered over them more carefully than he had done 
in the past, and, as a result, had become more thoroughly confirmed 
of the duty he was under to adhere to the principles stipulated by 


1 Perry, Historical Collections, II, p. 483. 
2 Ibid, 483-484. 


27 


them. Aside from the oath of allegiance to the British govern- 
ment, which was necessary to prevent a subject of the King of 
England from joining a foreign power against him, there were 
duties imposed upon the Church and its officers “‘to maintain the 
King’s supremacy in Church and State.”! Under these regula- 
tions, Mr. Reading states that no one could change the form of 
worship. He candidly believed that such laws were necessary for 
the good “government of the Church and for regulating the con- 
duct of Ministers in the ministration in it.”’! So rigid were these 
regulations for the government of the Church that there was 
“no one exception to answer special emergencies or to obviate 
difficulties that may arise on unforseen occasions.”! ‘Under 
these persuasions,” says Mr. Reading, “I could not consist- 
ently with my sense of the obligation, assume the danger 
even of reprehension from my superiors by deliberately and of 
purpose altering the Liturgy of the Church, much less would I 
subject myself and the people under my pastoral care to the severe 
censure of excommunication by disobeying the second Canon and 
contravening the points contained init. For this it is, which makes 
me say as I do in the beginning of this letter, that the Church of 
England has no longer a visible existence in this part of the world; 
because I look upon every person, whether Clergyman or layman, 
by impugning the King’s Supremacy to be virtually excommuni- 
cated, separated or cut off from the communion of the Church, as 
it stands upon its legal basis tho’ the sentence has not been actually 
pronounced against him.’’? 


Judging from the reasoning presented by Mr. Reading we 
may fail to understand that he did not admit that his own obliga- 
tions were at an end, if the Church had ceased to exist. ‘‘For’’, he 
says, “the Ecclesiastical censures could neither be pronounced here 
nor the penalties annexed operate to any immediate purpose 
against those who had incurred them, yet this assertion that the 
Church of England has no visible existence among us speaks for 
and proves itself.”’2 In following up the arguments for his position, 
he adds: ““Take away the distinguishing characteristic of any con- 


1 Thid., 484. 
2 Perry, Historical Collections, II, pp. 484-485. 


28 


stitution and that constitution instantly undergoes so material a 
change as not to be known by its former title of distinction.” } 
And what does he mean by this assumption? We find the answer 
to this question in his letter, wherein he says: “Take away the 
King’s supremacy and the Episcopal jurisdiction of our Church 
(for they are the specific differential marks of our Ecclesiastical 
policy), and the Church is no longer differenced by its former 
name as it can no longer with propriety lay claim to its distinguish- 
ing title of the Church of England.” ? 


With this acknowledgement of the status of the Church as it 
existed in 1776, he bravely determined “‘for the sake of keeping up 
the Church in its full visibility” to continue to ‘“‘read the public 
service entire as usual notwithstanding Independence had been 
declared by the Congress.” But the temper of the people of 
Delaware would not permit the prayers for the King to be spoken 
in public; and, Mr. Reading was warned, time and again, to leave 
off that part of the Church services. At last, when threatenings 
became so prevalent as to endanger the safety of himself and family, 
he explained to his congregation, on July 28, 1776, as reported: 
“The obligations of the Clergy of the Church of England are under 
oath to assert the King’s Supremacy in their public ministrations 
and acquainted them that as I could not read the Liturgy agreeably 
to theprescribed form without offending against our Government and 
incurring the resentment of the people I should on that day declare 
the Church shut up for six weeks.”"? Thus we find him ready to 
wait until some settlement could be made between the mother 
country and the colonies. He evidently expected to return at the 
end of six weeks to continue his missionary work as he had done 
in the past. 


Although he was a loyalist, we admire him. Weare compelled 
to admit that he was a man worthy of his calling. His integrity and 
his honesty in making an effort to remain true to his principles are 
self-evident from the candid way in which he presented his argu- 
ments. Making allowance for the carefulness with which the letter 

1 Tbid., 485. 


2 Perry, Historical Collections, II, p. 485. 
8 Tbid., p. 485-486. 


29 


was composed, owing to the severe censure cf the Committee of 
Safety, we are convinced that his words are genuine. We have 
further proof of the strict integrity of the missionary in his letters 
to the Society, which show at the outset that he had the interests 
of the people at heart;! that he condemned any tendency to 
immorality; ? and that he considered devotion to his calling “‘in our 
blessed Redeemer’s cause ought to balance every pecuniary 
interest.” 3 


Again, we find evidence of his sincerity and his determination 
to do what he firmly believed to be the right thing in his letter, 
wherein he remarks: “I declare in form as I had no design to 
resist the authority of the New Government on the one hand and 
as I was determined on the other not to incur the heavy guilt of . 
perjury by a breach of the most solemn promises, I should decline 
attending on the public worship for a short time * * * and having 
exhorted the Members of the Church to hold fast to the profession 
of their faith without wavering and to depend upon the promises of 
a faithful God for their present comfort and future relief I finished 
this irksome business, and Appoquiniminck Church from that day 
has continued shut up.”4 Here, as in other communications 
relative to the affairs of his Church, he reveals the fact that he 
was undoubtedly trying to perform his duties to his congregations 
to the best of his ability. 


We can judge from his statements that he had no intention 
to resist the patriots in their new form of government; but that he 
merely insisted in doing his duty, as far as his conscience would 
permit, with respect to the people under his pastoral care. In the 
performance of this duty, he says: “My sphere of action is now 
confined to the Catechetical, and what is strictly termed the 
parochial offices of my Mission. I shall relax in no diligence nor 
remit of any care in discharging these for the sake of keeping my 
people steadfast until some resolve of the New Legislature or the 
interposition of other events shall enable me to resume the public 


1 Perry, Historical Collections, II, p. 245. 
2 Tbid., 244-245. 

3 Thid., 386-387. 

4 Tbid., 486. 


30 








BARRATT’S CHAPEL 


CRADLE OF METHODISM IN THE YEAR 1780 


exercise of my Ministry in the Church. In the mean season | 
submit myself to the Honorable Society’s disposal humbly im- 
ploring their advice and direction in my present arduous cir- 
cumstances.” ! That he continued to persevere “with firmness 
and resolution in pursuing the same line of conduct” for two 
years is confirmed by a letter to that effect, dated September 30, 
1778.2 His death before the close of the war, unfortunately 
prevented him from being able to show what he could have done 
had he been placed under a free and independent government. 


THE METHODISTS 


As to the Methodists at the outbreak of the Revolution there 
is very little evidence to be found. From the standpoint of the pa- 
triots, they werelooked upon with suspicion, because they were con- 
sidered as a branch of the Church of England. Knowing that this 
was the general sentiment of the colonists, many of the Methodists 
adopted the policy of holding aloof from politics, and, thereby 
remaining neutral with respect to the war. However, Mr. Wesley 
created antagonism toward them by writing a letter stating prin- 
ciples that were strictly English in their tone. In referring to 
this attitude on the part of Mr. Wesley, Mr. Asbury writes in his 
Journal, March 19, 1776, as follows: “I also received an affectionate 
letter from Mr. Wesley, and am truly sorry that the venerable man 
ever dipped into politics in America. My desire is to live in peace 
and love with all men, and to do them no harm, but all the good I 
can. However, it discovers Mr. Wesley’s conscientious attach- 
ment to the government under which he lived. Had he been a 
subject of America, no doubt but he would have been as zealous 
an advocate of the American cause. But some inconsiderate 
persons have taken occasion to censure the Methodists in America 
on account of Mr. Wesley’s political sentiments.” 3 

Into the details of the activities of the Methodists at the 
beginning of hostilities it is not within our province to enter, for 
the influence of this sect was practically zz/ until two years after 
the war commenced. 

1 Perry, Historical Collections, p. 487. 


2 Thid., 494, 
8 Asbury’s Journal, March 19, 1776. 


ey 


THE PRESBYTERIANS 


The Presbyterians in Delaware had always held the honor 
for the brave stand taken by them in their struggle for freedom of 
religion and the security of their civil rights. Hence, we find them 
at the beginning of hostilities between Great Britian and her 
American colonies ready for the conflict. From the time of their 
entrance into Delaware they had steadily increased in numbers, 
until they could boast, in 1775, of a greater number of churches 
than that of any other denomination. Added to this feature of 
their progress was their gradual gain in power, socially as well as 
politically, until the time came when they were not afraid to chal- 
lenge the King himself if he attempted to deprive them of the fruits 
of their labors. 


Long before the beginning of the Revolution they had gained 
the reputation of having revolutionary tendencies. They had 
fearlessly taken their stand in protecting the colonists against the 
Indians;1 and in the French and Indian War they had learned 
the bitter experiences of battle. The British Government, not 
unmindful of the part that the Presbyterians had played in the 
wars with the French, began to fear the strength of these sturdy 
people; and immediately after peace was declared, made plans to 
curb their influence in the colonies. But the mother country 
soon found that her sons and daughters in the colonies had out- 
grown their infancy and were now in the full spirit of their adoles- 
cent period which refused to be controlled. They could not forget 
that for seventy years they had been compelled to meet the rebuffs 
of the royal governors, oftentimes imprisoned for preaching without 
a license, their churches closed, and their congregations forced to 
pay a tax for the support of a church whose ceremonies they utterly 
despised. And yet they seemed to thrive under adversity, for at 
the beginning of the Revolution they had multiplied in numbers 
until they had about one hundred and eighty six ministers, twenty 
Presbyteries, and two Synods.2 From this data we may judge that 
there were about twice as many congregations as there were 


1Ford, 584. 
* Briggs, American Presbyterianism, p. 342. 


32 








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ministers. In Delaware alone there were twenty-nine churches. ! 
“Heterogeneous as they were in origin, part New England Con- 
gregationalists, part Dutchmen of New Amsterdam, part Scotch- 
Irish, part Huguenots, part Highlanders, exiles of ‘the 45’—the 
common element of a Presbyterian polity, and a Calvinistic 
theology fused them into one patriotic mass, glowing with an in- 
tense passion for civil and religious liberty. They openly took the 
attitude, and consented to the name and the responsibility, of 
Rebels against the British government.” ? 

But we must not judge from this assertion that the Presby- 
terians believed in violence. On the other hand they detested the 
brutal radicalism of the mob. Even after the Battle of Lexington, 
we find them calm, deliberate, but fully determined to take a 
leading part in the contest for freedbm. In an excellent pastoral 
letter written on May 20, 1775, they say: “The Synod cannot 
help thinking that this is a proper time for pressing all and every 
rank, seriously to consider the things that belong to their eternal 
peace. Hostilities, long feared, have now taken place; the sword 
has been drawn in one province, and the whole continent, with 
hardly any exception, seem determined to defend their rights by 
force of arms. If, at the same time, the British ministry shall 
continue to enforce their claims by violence, a lasting and bloody 
contest must be expected. Surely, then, it becomes those who have 
taken up arms, and profess a willingness to hazard their lives in 
the cause of liberty, to be prepared for death, which to many must 
be certain, and to every one is a possible or probable event.’’? 

Although it is generally believed that the Presbyterian 
ministers were instrumental in bringing events to a crisis, they 
stated emphatically in their pastoral letter that they “had not 
been instrumental in inflaming the minds of the people, or urging 
them to acts of violence and disorder.”’4 Not only had they suc- 
ceeded in keeping political sentiments from the pulpit but from 
the press as well; but, they informed their members in 1775, that 
“things are now come to such a state, that as we do not wish to 


1See Tables. 

2A Short History of American Presbyterianism, p. 84. 

8 Records of the Presbyterian Church, 1766-1775, p. 466-467. 
4 Ibid., p. 467. 


30 


conceal our opinions as men and citizens, so the relation we stand 
in to you seemed to make the present improvement of it to your 
spiritual benefit, an indispensable duty.” ! True to their principles 
of religion they urged all who offered themselves as champions in 
their country’s cause to live near to God in order to be able “to 
meet the issue either in victory or death.’’? 


Their advice to the societies under their charge were given 
in explicit instructions as to their general conduct in public. They 
were advised to have respect for the king, “and to the revolution 
principles by which his august family was seated on the British 
throne * * * let it ever appear, that you only desire the preservation 
and security of those rights which belong to you as freemen and 
Britons, and that reconciliation upon these terms is your most 
ardent desire.’ In the second place, they urged their societies 
to “be careful to maintain the union which at present subsists 
through all the colonies; nothing can be more manifest than that 
the success of every measure depends on its being inviolably 
preserved, and therefore, we hope that you will leave nothing 
undone which can promote that end.”? The various denomina- 
tions were further advised to be candid and respectful toward 
each other, as they were fighting for a common cause, for civil 
and religious liberty. ? 


In the third place they urged upon their members to be careful 
about their private conduct, and were pleased to call their attention 
to the action of the Continental Congress, which was using every 
effort to discourage gaming, and public diversions of all kinds; 
and it would be to the interest of the country if they would follow 
this advice. They were also advised to pay their debts, and to live 
in such a manner that they could “serve one another,” and by so 
doing would, to a large extent, keep down many evils which always 
followed a civil war. Besides these wise instructions, they were not 
to forget that in a civil war there was a greater probability to seek 
revenge than in a foreign war, and they must “guard against this 
abuse.” They say: “That man will fight more bravely, who 

1 Thid. 


* Ibid., 467-469. 
3 Records of the Presbyterian Church, p. 468. 


34 


never fights till it is necessary, and who ceases to fight as soon as 
the necessity is over.”’! 


Of the union mentioned in the pastoral letter, we may say 
in passing that it was formed in 1766, for the purpose of preserving 
religious liberty in the Colonies, for the spread of the Gospel in 
America, and for the promotion of Christian fellowship among the 
various denominations.2 It is needless to say that the Presby- 
terians took the initiative in this movement, in the Synod of New 
York and Philadelphia. An overture was prepared and sent to the 
Association in Connecticut to urge them to unite their efforts in 
a common cause to preserve their religious liberty, and for this 
purpose to provide a means for a convention where they could 
meet and exchange views upon the subject. The General Associa- 
tion of Connecticut promptly agreed to be present and the meeting 
took place shortly afterwards. Thus the General Convention of 
the dissenters became an important factor in the various influences 
which brought about the Revolution. 3 


Coming to the part played by Delaware in the war for in- 
dependence, we find that, as far as the Presbyterian Church is 
concerned, there are few records to show the events of that period. 
The reason for this unfortunate affair may be explained in part by 
the following extract taken from the first page of the fourth volume 
of the Presbyterian Records of the New Castle Presbytery: ““The 
troublesome times, war and distress, which took place both in 
church and state afterwards greatly deranged all affairs civil and 
religious, for many years, and the enemy marching through the 
Presbytery’s bounds, occasioned the loss of their old records, and 
many of the running minutes of that distressing day are dropped 
aside, or turn fugitive with the enemy, and disaffected; so that it 
is doubtful whether any of them that are lost or filed will ever be 
recovered. 4 


1 Jhid., pp. 468-469. 

2 Records of the Presbyterian Church, pp. 468-469. 

3 Minutes of the General Convention of Delegates Appointed bv the Synod 
of New York and Philadelphia and the General Association of Connecticut, 

1766-1775, pp. 5-10. 

4 Spottswood, p. 28. 


35 


But other records are not lacking to show that patriotism was 
a prominent feature of the Presbyterian denomination, The 
Rev. Dr. Spottswood claims that there could not be found any- 
where more loyal subjects than those of the Presbyterian denomin- 
ation, for during the pre-revolutionary days they were loyal to 
the king. Nor could there be found any who were more zealous 
in the cause of liberty, or who gave their lives and their property 
more freely than these people. But, although they acknowledged 
the authority of the king, and their duty as subjects to the law, 
and had exemplified their principles on many occasions before the 
Revolution, the time came when they were called upon to show 
their loyalty to the King of Kings, when they were fully convinced 
that an effort was being made to force them into a form of religion 
which was clearly contrary to what their conscience dictated. ! 

A study of the developments of events in Delaware as in the 
other colonies will show that religious affairs were closely inter- 
twined with the civil matters of the time, especially after the act 
of uniformity began to be enforced. The troublesome times, both 
civil and religious, are mentioned time and again in their minutes, 
from 1770 up to the outbreak of the Revolution.2 Within the 
Presbyteries themselves, a spirit of change, a desire to be moved 
from one Presbytery to another, shows a tendency to independence 
of action as well as a growth of the Presbyteries. But the wise men 
of the Synod insist that unity means strength, and, therefore, order 
that a reconsideration of their plan of union of 1766 be made a 
subject of thought in their Presbyteries.* In 1772, the Synod takes 
into consideration the “low state of vital and practical religion, 
the great prevalence of vice and infidelity * * * of this land.” 
Consequently, a day for repentance was named as a “day of public 
fasting and prayer.” A pastoral letter in the same year, urging 
the members of the Presbyterian denomination to be more active 
in the distribution of religious literature, and to use their contri- 
butions for the advantage of the plan of union as laid down in 
1766, was circulated. 4 


1 Spottswood, p. 29. 


2 Records of the Presbyterian Church, pp. 402, 414, 426. 
3 Thid., 402. 
4 Records of the Presbyterian Church, p. 430. 


36 


The fear of the encroachments of the Established church was 
a constant source of dread to the Presbyterians a few years before 
the Revolution; hence the Synod recommended to the Presbyteries 
to be more cautious about accepting foreign ministers. They must 
maintain “orthodoxy in doctrine, and purity in practice;” and 
that they must be very careful about inspecting them as to letters 
of testimonial, and examinations. But, in spite of their caution to 
maintain their religious principles, the day came when “‘the dark 
and threatening calamities seemed ready to envelop them. June 
3, 1776, was set aside for a day of fasting and prayer, and to call 
upon God to avert the calamities which they “had good reason 
to fear.”! The Rev. Matthew Wilson, of Lewes, Delaware, plays 
an interesting role in his proposal of a method to “‘secure the lasting 
unity and credit of the Presbyterian body.” 2 The contents of his 
overture are not given, but it must have given many details about 
the church, as it was recommended as a good study for the con- 
stitution of the Presbyterian Church. 3 

From the fact that the Rev. Matthew Wilson appears to have 
had much influence in the Synod, judging from the number of 
times that he appears on important committees, we may take him 
as an illustration of what the Presbyterians accomplished in the 
cause for independence. The Rev. Mr. Wilson was a man of 
responsibility and great influence in civil affairs, as well as a 
faithful worker in religious activities. He claimed that it was 
not only the right but the duty of every Christian to take an 
interest in public life; and he exemplified this doctrine in his own 
particular work. For instance, he made strong opposition to the 
Stamp Act, and used his influence to encourage manufactures in 
order to lend his aid in carrying out the non-importation agreement. 
An interesting story is told of him in this connection. It appears 
from a story related by the Delaware Register of 1838, that the 
members of his family were forbidden to purchase any tea from 
England. As a reconciliation for this deprivation, he published 
an article in the newspaper, which was afterwards reprinted in the 
American Magazine, for 1775, stating the debilitating effects of 

1 Thid, 460. 


2 Thid, 460. 
3 Ibid, p. 460. 


oy, 


tea, and naming “seventeen herbs or vegetables which were good 
substitutes.” ! 


We may judge from this incident that a man of his tempera- 
ment would be an important factor 1n influencing the public mind 
in Delaware, and in the colonies as a whole. Hence, we are not 
surprised that he was made a member of a committee to send aid 
to the people of Boston, when the Boston Port Bill went into 
effect.2 Again, in July 1778, he takes a leading part against the 
Tories in Sussex County, where there was a strong influence in 
favor of the Crown. Numerous Whigs were daily being won over 
to the Tories by means of the maneuvers of the enemy. To count- 
eract this Tory influence, Mr. Wilson suggests as a remedy that 
some of the Tory prisoners, who were formerly good Whigs, turn 
state evidence, in order to find out the secrets and methods of the 
Tories who were using these men as “Cat’s Paws.’ With this 
purpose in view he writes to William Bradford, of the Board of 
War, in Philadelphia, to release a certain James Couper, provided 
he would ‘‘make a good state evidence.” ? The danger of such a 
role as Mr. Wilson was undertaking, is evident from a letter to 
Mr. Bradford, written by Henry Neill, Lieutenant of the County 
of Sussex, advising him to be very cautious about publicity of 
the minister’s letters, as it would create many enemies, who had 
it in ‘‘their power to injure him.”’ 4 


The significance of this effort on the part of Mr. Wilson is 
extremely important, because he was working in a regular hornet’s 
nest of Tories. Anonymous letters, and papers of all kinds were 
published and circulated by both factions. For instance, a pamph- 
let was issued by the Whigs, entitled: ‘““The Bibliographical History 
of Dionysius - - - Tyrant of Delaware, addressed to the People 
of the United States of America. By Timoleen,” was circulated 
after the war. This piece of propaganda, similar to others circu- 
lated throughout the colonies, was issued by Dr. James Tilton, of 


1 Neill, Rev. Edward, Matthew Wilson, D.D., of Lewes, (in the Pennsy!- 
vania Magazine of History, Vol. VIII, p. 50) 

2 Ibid, p. 51. 

3 Pennsylvania Magazine of History, VIII, p. 52. 

4 Thed., p.'53- 


38 


Delaware. Among some of the interesting features of his circular, 
he says: “From the memorable era of 1763 the progress of British 
jealousy and the consequent attempts at arbitrary power, and the 
dominant power over the colonies, are notorious.”! Mr. Neill 
calls our attention to the fact that the majority of the people in 
Sussex County favored the British Government;? but he does not 
explain that the reasons for this were dueto several causes. In the 
first place many of the Tories who were creating so much dis- 
turbance in Sussex County were men who had been brought into 
Delaware by the British government; in the second place the 
government was in the hands of the Tory adherents;? in the third 
place some of the most enthusiastic patriots had been enrolled 
in the Delaware regiment, which had marched to the seat of war; 
and, finally, many of the Whigs had been seduced “‘by the arts and 
assiduity of the proprietary adherents.”’4 The Presbyterians, as 
a matter of course, belonged to the Whig party, but they could do 
little against such odds. The Tories employed runners in Kent and 
Sussex Counties with propaganda against independence. This 
was a period when the minds of the people were poisoned; and vast 
numbers for the first time were opposed to the actions of Congress. 5 
About this time the election of the government officials was con- 
trolled by a strong force of the Tories, who agitated the country 
against independence, and who were in opposition to the non- 
importation acts. A case in point is illustrated by a counter 
plot of a Mr. Robinson against the activities of Mr. Wilson. He 
purchased a large quantity of tea and gave to all who wished to 
use it. The committee of observation, of which Mr. Wilson was 
a member, had an account of his conduct published in the paper. 
Then the Light Infantry took charge of Mr. Robinson, and ordered 
that he be denied the privilege of a seat in the assembly. However, 
“Dionysius,” who was no other than George Read, considered 
this a breach of privilege on the part of the Revolutionists, and 

1 The Biographical History of Dionysius, p. 10. 

2 Pennsylvania Magazine of History, VIII, p. 51. 

3 The Bibliographical History of Dionysius, p. 16. 

4 Ibid, 16-17. 

5 Letter of Mr. Wilson, July 29, 1778 (in Pa. Mag. of Hist. Vol. VIII, p. 


ea2,) 
6 The Biographical History of Dionysius, p. 16. 


39 


threats were even made to imprison “the Light Infantry for 
offence,” says the writer, Dr. James Tilton. 


This action on the part of the acting governor, George Read, 
was an encouragement to the Tories to become more bold in their 
stand for the retention of the British form of government, in 
“opposition to the tyranny of Congress and committees.”! As 
the Presbyterians were using strenuous efforts to strengthen the 
power of Congress at this time, ‘all people” were warned by the 
Tories against members of this denomination “who had long ago 
made havoc in New England, and were now, no doubt, in concert 
with the Yankees for the purpose of some secret mischief.’ ? 
But the mischief was not always secret, for the Presbyterians 
undoubtedly had a part in seizing a Tory, by the name of Clark, 
who had been bold in advocating the Tory doctrine, and having 
him placed in the pillory, “where he was pelted with eggs, and 
disgraced as a traitor.” ? However, Clark, being an officer of the 
law, gathered, within a very few days after his release, a number 
of followers for the purpose of revenge; but they were expected 
by the light infantry, who had a suitable reception ready for them 
when they should appear. A couple of clergymen warned Clark 
of the danger that was awaiting him, and persuaded him to return 
home. 4 

But the insurrection in Kent was very mild as compared with 
the serious conditions in Sussex County. It appears that the 
leaders there were in league with officers of the British ships which 
were in the Delaware Bay, and that through their influence many 
had become disaffected. Consequently, thousands flocked to 
Lewes from all over the country, to take part in an insurrection 
against the Continental Congress. Communication with the 
general government resulted in two battalions being sent, under 
the leadership of Colonel Miles, and the Delaware Regiment 
under Colonel Hazlet, to keep things in order. 5 

: The Biographical History of Dionysius, p. 19. 

3 Ta p. 20. 

4 An attempt has been made to find out who these clergymen were; but 


there seems to be no available records concerning them. Op. cit. 
5 The Biographical History of Dionysius, p. 21. 


40 


In New Castle County also, we find some enthusiastic ad- 
vocates for the cause of independence. The Church of the Lower 
Brandywine is a striking example of the condition of the churches 
in this county during the war. This was a period when the fields 
of labor of the pastors were overrun by the enemy, “‘lying on the 
direct line of their march.”! The Rev. Mr. Smith, the famous 
revolutionist, had the experience of having both armies camped 
within the field of his pastorate, while a few miles north of his 
church was fought the famous battle of Chadd’s Ford.! South 
of this church was that of Drawyer’s Creek, with another plucky 
Presbyterian as its pastor. The following story of him, is given 
on the authority of Dr. Thomas Read himself, and is worthy of 
repetition: 


“On the 25th of August, 1777, the British army disembarked 
at Elk Ferry. General Washington was encamped near Stanton, 
about six miles below Wilmington, and nearly equidistant from 
the point of disembarkment of the British and Chadd’s Ford, 
where the battle was subsequently fought, on the 1oth of Septem- 
ber, about twenty miles from the camp. A smart skirmish at 
Couch’s Bridge, between the outposts, and within four miles of 
Washington’s encampment, gave the first intimation of the 
dangerous proximity of the enemy. To give battle in such a 
position, with our raw troops against disciplined veterans, would 
prove ruinous—to retreat by the high road, with a well appointed 
and regular army hanging on the rear, might prove more disastrous 
than a pitched battle. Every preparation was instantly made for 
the departure; but how to retreat was the great question, and it 
demanded a speedy solution. The geographical knowledge of the 
immediate neighborhood did not extend much beyond the limits 
of the continuous farms, and the roads to the nearest markets; 
and no information that could be relied upon could be obtained. 
Between eleven and twelve o’clock at night, a council of war was 
called; and, while the greatest anxiety prevailed, Col. Duff, a 
gallant officer, then acting as one of Washington’s staff, entered 
the room and exclaimed instantly, ‘I know the man that can 


1 Fiske, John, The American Revolution, Vol. I, 312-314. 


41 


extricate us.’ ‘Mount and bring him without a moment’s delay,’ 
was the order; and immediately the Colonel was on his way to 
execute it. After traveling about five miles, he arrived at the house 
of Mr. Read, at twelve o’clock at night, roused him from his bed, 
and in ten minutes his horse was at the door, and he in the saddle, 
and both under whip and spur for the camp. In half an hour, 
they had gone over the whole distance, notwithstanding an ex- 
ceedingly bad road,—and Mr. Read was introduced to Washington 
in his tent. He mapped out for the General, within a small space, 
the whole adjacent country, with all the cross and by-roads 
accurately marked; and by this means the general affected a safe 
retreat to the Brandywine.” ! 


We cannot fail to be assured from these accounts of the 
attitude of the Presbyterians in the three counties of Delaware, 
that they played an important part in the struggle for independence. 
As a body, we learn from their records that ‘‘they prayed to the 
God of the armies, they observed special days of fasting; they sent 
pastoral letters to the churches, exhorting them to maintain the 
union of the colonies, to cultivate and practice in their engagements 
with the enemy the virtues of mercy and humanity, and above all 
the love and fear of God.” ? As individuals, besides the men who 
have been mentioned, there were many who deserve the highest 
praise. Many Presbyterian ministers served in the army, among 
whom was Mr. Montgomery, of New Castle, who enlisted in the 
capacity of chaplain, on October 29, 1777.3 The Rev. Elihu 
Spencer, of St. George,* and the Rev. John Miller, of Dover, 
were zealous leaders in the cause for independence. Mr. McCreary, 
pastor of the Presbyterian Church, at the Head of Christiana, and 
all his people “‘were firm friends and advocates for independence.”’ ® 
Many of the ministers joined the army and served during the full 
period of the war; others gave up their lives on the battle field. 


1 Sprague’s Annals, Vol. III, p. 302. 

2 Spottswood, p. 31. 

3 Ibid, p. 33. 

4 Sprague, III, p. 167. 

5 Ibid, p. 171. (Taken from the MS. of his son, Rev. Samuel Miller.) 

6 Vallandingham, J. L., The History of the Presbytery of New Castle, 
1717-1888, p. 14. 


42 


Thus far we have had evidence from the records of the Synod 
of New York and Philadelphia, and from the ministers and 
members of the Presbyterian Churches in Delaware, to show that 
the Presbyterians were unconditionally committed to the desperate 
struggle for independence. This unanimity of the Presbyterians, 
was recognized by one of the most ardent loyalists, the Rev. Mr. 
Inglis, of New York, but formerly of Delaware. He says: “‘Al- 
though civil liberty was the ostensible object, the bait that was 
flung out to catch the populace at large and engage them in the 
rebellion, yet it is now past all doubt that an abolition of the 
Church of England was one of the principal springs of the dissenting 
leaders’ conduct; and hence the unanimity of the dissenters in 
this business. I have it from good authority that the Presbyterian 
ministers, at a synod where most of them in the middle colonies 
were collected, passed a resolve to support the Continental Con- 
gress in all their measures. This, and this only, can account for 
the uniformity of their conduct, for I do not know one of them, 
nor have I been able, after strict inquiry, to hear of any, who did 
not, by preaching and every effort in their power, promote all 
the measures of Congress, however extravagant.” ! 


THE QUAKERS 


In considering the attitude of the Quakers toward the Revo- 
lution, we must bear in mind their principles and their conduct 
with respect to warfare since their troublesome times with the 
frontiersmen in 1756, when they voluntarily withdrew from the 
Pennsylvania Assembly, because they were unwilling to carry on 
war with the Indians.2 Likewise, in 1775, they advocated the 
same principles, when they “put forth an address for peace when 
the very air was hot with war.’ We must also take into con- 
sideration that in all their dealings they used methods of persua- 
sion, of peace, and of conciliation rather than use of force. Thus, 

1 State of the Anglo-American Church in 1776, by the Rev. Chas. Inglis. 
(In Documentary History of New York, III, pp. 1050-51.) 

The statements of Dr. Inglis are corroborated by the Records of the 
Presbyterian Synod of New York and Philadelphia, pp. 466-468. 


2 Jones, p. 557; Blaithewaite, pp. 605, 623. 
3 Frothingham, p. 465. 


43 


in the war for independence, true to their principles, as they had 
always been on other occasions, their minutes of 1775 show that, 
although they had a “just sense of the value” of their “religious 
and civil liberties,” and were very desirous of preserving them, 
they were willing to use only such measures as were consistent 
with their principles. In the same document, they state: ““Though 
we believe it our duty to submit to the powers which in the course 
of Divine Providence are set over us, where there has been or is 
any oppression or cause of suffering, we are engaged with Christian 
meekness and firmness to petition and remonstrate against it, 
and to endeavor by just reasoning and arguments to assert our 
rights and privileges in order to obtain relief.” ! 


As an illustration of their methods of remonstrance, we may 
recall the Stamp Act, and their disapproval of the same, when in 
1765, the Quakers of Philadelphia united in an appeal to their 
fellow merchants in London to use their influence to secure its 
appeal. In all probability this appeal had more effect than the 
frantic attacks of New England, according to the letter of Dr. 
Fothergill, who writes: ‘Nothing has created so great difficulties 
to your friends, or furnished your opponents with so many argu- 
ments against you as the tumultuous behavior of too many on 
your side of all ranks. The Parliament saw its authority not 
only rejected, but despised, opposed and insulted. What difficul- 
ties has not this madness occasioned to all who endeavor to serve 
your’? During the next two years Pemberton and Fothergill, 
again and again, urged the “‘objections to the foolish course of the 
English ministry.” ? Furthermore, the Society of Friends insisted 
on obedience to laws which did not touch conscience, and advised 
restraint and moderation in protest. 4 


But by 1776, the spirit of the times had had its effects upon the 
younger generations of Quakers; and the conservative Quakers 
were compelled to make a strenuous effort to keep in line with 
their views. Indeed, many broke away and joined the ranks for 

1 Sharpless, Part II, p. 1. 

* Sharpless, Part II, p. 94. 


3 ITiid. 
4 Thid. 


44 


independence.! One of the most famous Quakers who had broken 
away from the traditional beliefs of his fathers, was John Dickin- 
son, the famous writer of the ““Farmer’s Letters,”—a man who 
had spent most of his life in Delaware.? In 1763, he had sternly 
rebuked Parliament for attempting to impose taxes upon the 
colonists; and he was one of the chief leaders in the Colonies at 
the outbreak of the Revolution. 


When war was declared, the Quakers not only opposed war, 
but they discountenanced all things which were devised for the 
purpose of carrying it on successfully. Consequently, they were 
subject to many trials and tribulations. For instance, they 
objected to the issue of paper money, or notes of credit, which 
was necessary from a financial standpoint; and many felt con- 
strained against using paper money for such purposes.2 A case 
in point occured in Duck Creek, Delaware, when John Cowgill 
refused paper money. He was arrested and made to appear before 
a body of inspectors to give an account of his conduct. After 
declining to give assurance that he would not be found guilty of 
such an offence again, his name was published in the newspapers; 
whereupon he was accused of being an enemy to his country, 
and all patriots were warned not to have any dealings with him. 
Therefore, “some millers refused to grind his corn, whilst the 
schoolmaster who taught his children, sent them home.’ It is 
said that when he was enroute with his family to a meeting, not 
long afterwards, he was accosted by a group of armed men who 
informed him that he must appear before the Committee. Then 
they fastened a paper to his back, with the inscription: “On the 
circulation of the Continental currency depends the fate of 
America.”3 Then, with this insignia of the patriotic cause still 
attached to his back, he was conveyed in “‘a cart to a neighboring 
town, and paraded through the streets, amidst an excited multi- 
tude.’ 


At the beginning of the Revolution, the influence of the 
Friends was comparatively small in contrast to the period when 


1 Thid. 
2 Bowden, History of the Society of Friends, Vol. II, p. 307. 
3 Ibid, p. 308. 


45 


William Penn lived among them; but few of them seemed to 
realize their weakness. They managed to keep in communication 
with each other; and the few that remained true to the doctrines 
of William Penn, were, practically of the same mind in all of the 
colonies. Their attitude toward war in general, and toward the 
Revolution in particular, may. be surmised from the following 
minute in their Yearly-Meeting in 1775: 


“We did not approve of the proceedings of the British Min- 
istry, which irritated the Americans; we thought them ill-advised, 
and in view of their certain effects, wicked; we would have joined with 
our fellow-citizens in peaceful legal resistance to them, and have 
suffered, as we have proven we are able to suffer, for the principles 
of liberty and justice. But we do not believe in revolutions, and 
we do not believe in war; we will not be a party in overturning the 
beneficient charter of William Penn, nor will we aid in throwing 
off our ultimate allegiance to the King of Great Britian. We, who 
largely made this province, what it is, and who have shown tn the 
past our capacity for the peaceful maintainance of rights, are 
utterly opposed to the measures now taken, and disavow all re- 
sponsibility for them. We cannot take part in the war, on one 
side or the other; we cannot recognize the revolutionary govern- 
ment, set up by illegal means, by holding office under it -or by af- 
firming allegiance to it; nor will we assist Great Britain in the 
unrighteous means taken to conquer the rebellious provinces; we 
are out of the whole business, and will give comfort to neither 
party.” ! 


From an analysis of the above statement of their views, we 
may judge that an opposition to war was their chief contention in 
1775. They were not only opposed to war in any form; but to any 
proceeding that was irritating in its effect. If the Colonists had used 
peaceful means in their struggle for the “principles of liberty and 
justice,” they would have joined them; but in the critical position 
in which they were now placed, they could not conscientiously lend 
their aid to either party. Hence, the doctrine of the Friends was 
to remain neutral throughout the Revolutionary War. 


1 Minutes of the Yearly Meeting of Friends in Philadelphia, 1775. 


46 


Although the Quakers advocated the doctrine of neutrality 
as a body, there were some individuals who were strongly in 
sympathy with the patriots. One of the most prominent Friends, 
who lived at the time of the outbreak of the war with England, 
was Elizabeth Shipley, a minister of the Society of Friends, in 
Wilmington. During her last illness, in the fall of 1777, a short 
time after the Battle of Brandywine, and the capture of Phila- 
delphia by the British, she became strangely solicitious about the 
public affairs of the nation. -The Friends, some of whom had 
known her for a period of thirty-five years, gathered around her 
bedside to hear her last words. She called their attention to the 
existing state of the country, which was then in such a stage of 
despondency as to make even the most patriotic feel dismayed; 
she alluded to the sufferings of the people, the long civil strife 
that was still before them, and the difficulties of getting the neces- 
sary things of life; and then said: “But I have seen in the light 
of the Lord, that the invader of our land shall be driven back; 
for the arm that is mighty to save and able to deliver from the 
hand of the oppressor, is stretched forth for the deliverance of 
this nation, which, I am firm in the faith, will secure its inde- 
pendence.” } | 


The stupenduous impression left on the minds of the Friends 
at this juncture, is all the more remarkable from the fact that even 
the officers of the army of the American Colonies were filled with 
despondency. ““The solemnity of the occasion, the character of the 
speaker, and the circumstances under which it was delivered, 
greatly increased the interest it was otherwise well calculated to 
excite. It was a voice from the borders of the grave, uttered by 
one who had long been considered an extraordinary person, and 
now just entering the portal of an eternal state.” ? 


But the influence of this stirring event was not confined to 
Delaware, as the facts of the case were sent to the editor of a 
Whig paper in Trenton, New Jersey, who published them on 
March 11, 1778, in the following words: 


1Ferris, History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware, p. 258. 
2 Ferris, History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware, p. 259. 


47 


“The public has been already informed of the death of Eliza- 
beth Shipley, of Wilmington, but a circumstance relating thereto, 
is perhaps a secret except to a few. On her death-bed, as well as 
during her better state of health, she was much affected with the 
calamity that this country now labours under from the cruel 
oppression of the King and Parliament of England; but a ray of 
that light by which the soul can look into future events, springing 
up in her, she was comforted; and with godly confidence declared 
THAT THIS COUNTRY SHOULD NOT BE CONQUERED BY 
GREAT BRITAIN. This she uttered with such solemnity that 
it commanded the particular notice of all who heard her, 
and is now made public for the encouragement of every well- 
wisher to the freedom and liberties of America. Every one who 
has had an opportunity of knowing this great and good woman, 
whether they be Whig or Tory, will be inclined to give credit to 
her prophecy; and for the sake of all such who knew her not, they 
are now informed that she was a woman eminently endowed with 
knowledge both natural and divine.”’! 


Fearing the result if this article was left uncriticized by the 
Tories, The Pennsylvania Ledger, under the patronage of Lord 
Howe, had it reprinted, March 21, 1778, with the following intro- 
duction: 


“The publisher of last week’s Trenton paper, introduces a 
most comfortable prophecy of a good lady, who lately died at 
Wilmington. It is no new device among these deceivers of the 
people (the whigs) to call in the aid of popular superstition, in 
support of their ambitious projects. And though we think it 
rather a profanation to amuse the people with such idle tales * * * 
we hope our readers will excuse our asserting this of good madame 
Shipley, not doubting but it will have all the weight which it 
merits, with those for whose encouragement it was published in 
New Jersey.’ ? 


There is no reason to doubt the statement in regard to 
Elizabeth Shipley, as the Tory editor would have us believe. A 


1 Ibid, p. 259. 
2 Ibid. 


48 


survey of the story of her life will reveal the fact that she had 
prophetic visions many times during her life, according to her 
historians, and that they had always come true. The retort from 
the Tories was a natural consequence, however, as she had traveled 
throughout the Middle States, and was “‘considered one of the 
greatest ministers of her own profession on the continent of 
America.” ! 


But this event did not lessen the sufferings of Friends, as far 
as we have been able to obtain information concerning them. It 
appears from their records that instead of taking part in the war, 
they spent thousands of dollars in aiding sufferers of their own 
denomination, who had been subject to hardships for remaining 
steadfast to their doctrines. Officers of the army would take their 
grain, their blankets, horses, bridles, wearing apparel, cows, sheep, 
and other things, which the Friends possessed. Many of them, in 
order to remain true to their principles, would not accept pay, 
when offered, for such things that were taken for the purpose of 
aiding in carrying on the war. Among the latter were most of the 
members of the Duck Creek Monthly Meeting, who averaged a 
loss of about five thousand four hundred sixty-six dollars during 
the years 1779-1785. ? 


1 Ferris, History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware, p. 258. 
2 Michener, A Retrospect of Quakerism, pp. 396-405. 


49 


CHAPTER IV 


ATTITUDE OF THE CHURCHES TOWARD EDUCATION 


The genesis of the educational work in Delaware may be 
found in the religious history of the country. The Swedes,! the 
Dutch, 2? and the English’ had different forms of schools; but in all 
of their plans we find religious instruction the chief requirement 
of the curriculum. In every case, the religious body in Europe 
which controlled education in the colonies saw that their American 
brethren had a supply of religious literature sent to them for their 
enlightenment. Thus, we may come to the conclusion that the 
general attitude of the early settlers of Delaware toward education 
was to give the colonists perfect freedom in religion and educational 
affairs. 4 


Although little is known as to the real conditions for education 
during the Dutch and Swedish régime, it is generally understood 
by most writers of the period that the educational activities of 
the Dutch and the Swedes were much superior to that of the 
English.® In their instructions to the settlers both the Swedes 
and the Dutch made provisions for a church building and a school 
house; and, also a supply of ministers and schoolmasters.* The 
schoolmaster had to sign a pledge to submit to the authority and 
discipline of the church. As to the Swedes, from the time when they 
first landed in America, up to the period of the Revolution, we find 
the church taking a leading part in the instruction of the young. 
Likewise, Holland had control over education in the Dutch col- 
onies in America; and, although the Dutch régime lasted only 
about nine years in Delaware, there are traces of their educational 


1 Weeks, History of Public School Education in Delaware, p. 11. 
* Ibid, p..13. 
3 Powell, History of Education in Delaware, p. 38. 
4 Weeks, p. 10. 

5 Ibid, p. 11. 

6 Powell, p. 23. 


50 


system which may be found in the principles of William Penn, 
and of the Puritan colonists who found their way into this particular 
region. ! : | 

From 1722 to 1749, the Swedes were so busy in clearing new 
lands, and in providing for their economical needs that they 
neglected the education of the children. Until the coming of 
Acrelius, in 1750, the children went to the English schools. Through 
his influence, Nils Forsberg,.a student from the University of 
Lund, made it his duty to go from house to house in order to 
instruct the children in their own language, and in the catechism. ? 
From this time forward, there was a struggle on the part of the 
Swedes to maintain separate schools; but about the time of the 
Revolution their schools were merged into that of the English. 3 
This was a natural thing to do, as the children at this period spoke 
the English language more frequently than that of the Swedes. 
The last effort on the part of the Swedes to teach the children in 
the Swedish language was made by the pastors, who went from 
house to house a few years before the Revolution. 3 


There seems to be a difference of opinion about the quality of 
education in the Swedish settlements. According to Bancroft, the 
children were well instructed, in spite of the fact that they lacked 
teachers and Swedish books. In contrast to this view, Ferris claims 
that education was sadly neglected; but for more than forty years 
before the Revolution the Swedes had made very little progress in 
education. We should judge that there was a decline in education 
as the Church was gradually amalgamated by the English church, 
and the Swedish language was no longer spoken.‘ 


1 Powell, History of Education in Delaware, p. 21. 

2 Weeks, History of Public School Education in Delaware, p. 13. 
8 Ibid, p. 13. 

4 Powell, pp. 20-21. 

5 


fi 


Baptist EDUCATION 


The Baptists in Delaware during the Revolutionary period 
seem to have been at a standstill compared with what they had 
accomplished during the early part of the eighteenth century. The 
Welsh Tract Church was the only Baptist church in the colony at 
this time; but it had branches in Kent County, and in Wilmington 
and New Castle, in New Castle County. The Welsh Tract Church 
must have had some form of educational work, for the men who 
preached in the branches were fairly well educated in religious 
works. However, we are inclined to believe that there was no 
regular school conducted by the Baptists, from the fact that Abel 
Morgan, a noted Baptist minister in the years before the Revolu- 
tion, attended school at the academy in Pencader Hundred, under 
the supervision of Rev. Thomas Evans, a Presbyterian minister. ! 


An attempt was made by the Baptists to establish a school 
in Pencader Hundred, as early as 1734, for the purpose of educating 
Baptist youths for the ministry; by some arrangement made by 
Mr. Rees Jones, who stipulated in his will that his plantation in 
Welsh Tract be used for that purpose.? But his relatives insisted 
on other arrangements; and there is no evidence available to show 
that anything further was done about the matter. 


An examination of the lives of the early ministers leads us 
to believe that most of them were well educated. After they came 
to America, the ministers that came over imparted their knowledge 
to all youths of ability that were qualified to become preachers. 
Few of the Baptists, however, had college degrees beforethey were 
ordained as ministers. Many were educated for the ministry in 
Welsh Tract, if we may judge from the number who went from 
there to South Carolina, to Virginia, to Pennsylvania, and in the 
various parts of Delaware. This may also be assumed to be true 
from the prominent places given to them in Philadelphia, and the 
interest taken by them in providing for a college for Baptist 
ministers in Rhode Island. Although no records are available to 
show that the members of the Welsh Tract Baptist Church were 


1Sprague’s Annals, Vol. VI, p. 33. 
* Pennsylvania Magazine of History, 1X, p. 55. 


$2 


educated men, the fact that they were represented in nearly every 
annual meeting from 1706 to 1776 leads us to believe that they 
must have had a large influence in the Baptist Association. We 
also learn from the records of the Philadelphia Baptist Association 
that the men were faithful and consistent in doing their part for 
the establishment and continuence of the Baptist College in 
Rhode Island. This shows their interest in education and their 
earnestness in providing means for the spread of their religion. ! 


Up to this time the Baptist youths had to attend colleges of 
other denominations; and although many of these colleges offered 
equality of privileges, as far as their charters were concerned, the 
Baptist students suffered restrictions from the students themselves. 
In establishing a college, they followed the practice of other colleges 
of the day, in permitting students from other denominations to 
attend; but went a step further by forbidding all religious tests 
as a requirement for a position in the controlling bodies, except 
in the case of the Presidency.? Thus, the Delaware Baptists had 
an important part in the spread of liberalism throughout the 
colonies, one of the great factors which culminated in the Revolu- 
tionary War. 


As to the Baptist schools in Delaware, we can say but little. 
In a colony where there was but little education at the outset, the 
other denominations had crowded out the Baptists; and we find 
that even in the neighborhood of the only Baptist church in the 
colony there was a flourishing school under the control of a Pres- 
byterian, the Rev. Thomas Evans. The famous Abel Morgan 
attended this school, as we mentioned before, but it did not prevent 
him from becoming a leading Baptist. ® 


EPIscoPpALIAN EDUCATION 


The educational activities of the Established Church is so 
closely related to the work of the Society for the Propagation of 
the Gospel in Foreign Parts that a brief survey of this venerable 

1 Arnold, History of Rhode Island, Vol. II, p. 248. 


2 Arnold, History of Rhode Island, II, p. 249. 
3 Pennsylvania Magazine of History, Il, p. 344. 


$3 


Society may be necessary to understand what was really ac- 
complished under extreme difficulties. The chief purposes of the 
Society were: (1) To provide for the maintenance of orthodox 
ministers of the gospel for the instruction of the British subjects 
in the colonies in religious knowledge; (2) to make provision for 
the propagation of the gospel among the Indians, and in the 
desolate regions; and (3) to receive, manage, and dispose of the 
charity donated by the people.! Naturally, it came within the 
province of this Society to aid in the work of education. Besides 
supplying missionaries to the Colonists and the Indians “it ap- 
pointed catechists and schoolmasters for the slaves, with other 
ignorant persons, and for sending over libraries for the improve- 
ment of the clergy, as well as practical treatises for the edification 
of the laity.”’2 Thus, we do not hesitate to say that this famous 
Society was the first organization for universal education in Dela- 
ware. ° 

It was in conformity to the rules of this Society that the Rev. 
George Ross was sent to New Castle, Delaware, as a missionary. 
From the very beginning of his career, during the early part of 
the eighteenth century, he was interested in education; and he 
made many earnest efforts to find some means to educate the people. 
But the difficulties were great, and the facilities for education were 
meager. The only available method during the first decades of 
the century was to catechise the children on Sundays, before the 
sermon, or at other convenient times.4 The first effort to secure 
a schoolmaster in Delaware was in 1711, when the vestrymen of 
the Church in New Castle petitioned the Society for one; but the 
records do not indicate that one was sent. 


The conditions in Delaware at this time must have been very 
trying to the missionaries, who were men of superior qualifications 
and education, as is illustrated by a letter from the Rev. George 
Ross in 1727. In his letter to the Society, he says: ““There are 
some private schools within my reputed district which are put very 


1 Classified Digest of the Records of the S. P. G., p. 3. 
2 Powell, p. 35. 

3 Weeks, p. 16. 

4 Perry, Historical Collections, Vol. V., p. 30. 

5 Tbid, p. 47. 


54 


often into the hands of those who are brought into the country and 
sold as servants. Some school-masters are hired by the year, by 
a knot of families who, in their turns, entertain him monthly, and 
the poor man lives in their houses liked one that begged an alm, 
more like a person in credit than authority. When a ship arrives 
in the river it is a common expression with those who stand in 
need of an instructor for their children, Let us go and buy a School 
Master. The truth is the office and character of such a person 
is generally very mean and contemptible here, and it can not be 
other ways, ’til the public take the Education of Children into 
their natural consideration.” ! 


About the same time that the Rev. George Ross was struggling 
for some means of educating the young people in New Castle 
County, the Rev. Thomas Crawford was making similar efforts in 
Kent County. He too was a zealous worker for the spread of the 
gospel and for the education of the young people. “The People at 
his first coming among them were very ignorant; insomuch that 
he informs, not one Man in the Country understands how the 
Common-Prayer Book was to be read; and he was forced to 
instruct them privately at home, in the Method of reading the 
Liturgy; for the more general Instruction of the People, he used 
to preach one Sunday at the upper end of the County, another at 
Dover Church, and a third at the Lower end of the County. 
He used to catechise the children all summer long, before sermon, 
but not in the Winter.”’? 


Likewise, in Sussex, where a great part of the inhabitants were 
seamen, an attempt was made to educate the people. Through the 
influence of the Rev. Thomas Crawford, books on religion, Bibles 
and prayer books were sent to them from England. Fifteen pounds 
sterling was allowed the people of Lewes by the Society, as a 
fund for purchasing books.* But the people in all of these counties 
were not as enthusiastic about their education as the ministers 
were; and before the close of the first quarter of the eighteenth 


1 Ibid, p. 47 
2 Powell, p. 37. 
3 Powell, p. 38. 


55 


century the Church was becoming unpopular, and was on the 
verge of falling to pieces. ! 

An investigation as to the conditions in Delaware was made 
by Governor William Keith, who was instrumental in bringing 
about a revival. Through his influence, Mr. Becket was sent to 
Lewes in 1721, under the supervision of the Society; and in a short 
time a church was built. In connection with the church, as a 
matter of course, instruction of the young people was again taken 
up. Aid was given by the Society until 1770, when the Rev. 
Israel Acrelius, the Swedish clergyman, received a large number 
of books to be distributed throughout the colony to the people 
who needed them. This was the last service, as far as the records 
reveal, of the Society in Delaware. ? 


We may see from this general survey of the conditions in 
Delaware during these years, that the work of the Society for the 
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, was primarily to 
upbuild the strength of the Established Church; and the chief 
purpose to inculcate in the minds of the children and ignorant 
persons certain principles toward this end. Therefore, great care 
was taken to train the children, and others, so that they could be 
able to enter into the fellowship of the Church, with more “‘decency 
and satisfaction.” * The children of dissenters were also given 
the privilege of learning, and in this way many of them were 
enrolled as members of the Church. 4 


PRESBYTERIAN EDUCATION 


To the Presbyterians belongs the honor of having done more 
for the education of the people of Delaware than any other denom- 
ination. From the beginning of their existence as an organized body 
in the Colonies, they laid great stress on the value of an education 
for both the laity and the clergy. At the outset it was insisted 
that no one could enter the Presbyterian ministry who was not a col- 

1 Id, p. 38. 

2 Powell, p. 38. 

3 Abstract Proceedings of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel 
in Foreign Parts, 1774-1775, p. 32. 


4 Ibid, p. 67. 
5 McGill, Short History of American Presbyterianism, pp. 138-9. 


56 


lege graduate. Toread and write Latin, and Greek in many cases, 
was one of the necessary requirements.! In the beginning of their 
experiences, the ministers were graduates from Scotland or from 
New England Colleges; and in some instances they were graduates 
from England or Ireland; just as in other denominations. But, 
by gradual degrees they finally were able to establish a college of 
their own where they could ordain their ministers without depend- 
ing upon foreign supplies. Indeed, the organization of the Presby- 
terian church in the colonies, had this in mind when they first met 
in Philadelphia to form a Presbytery, which later developed 
into the famous Philadelphia Synod. 


A survey of the work of the Presbyterians in the education of 
ministers would not be complete without a brief sketch of the 
history of the Presbyteries whose vast importance can not bedenied. 
The first Presbytery was that of New Castle, which was organized 
on March 13,1717.2 Five ministers of Delaware were present at the 
first meeting. An earnest request having been made by the people 
of North East, Maryland, for a minister, the Presbytery appointed 
each minister present to preach one time before the next meeting. ? 
Thus, the missionary spirit, which was destined to be of great 
influence in the spread of the gospel and liberal ideas, was exempli- 
fied in this first meeting, and was one of the chief factors of the 
body. 

During the next thirteen years eight ministers were ordained 
by the Presbytery, and twenty were enrolled as members;‘* and 
by 1731 twenty-seven elders had attended the meeting of the 
Presbytery. During the next twenty-eight years twenty-two 
members were received from other Presbyteries, and thirteen were 
received by ordination.® This shows the rapid spread of Presby- 
byterianism in Delaware during these eventful years; and gives 
some idea of the Presbyterian influence over civil and religious 
affairs. 

1 Ibid, p. 138. 

2 Vallandingham, History of the Presbytery of New Castle, 1717-1888, p, 3 

; opine! History of the Presbytery of New Castle, p. 3. 


5 Ibid, p. 8. 
6 Ibid, pp. 9-11. 


57 


During the period from 1759 to 1773, the main business of 
this Presbytery was to examine and license candidates for the 
ministry; to ordain and install pastors; to supply vacancies, either 
by sending settled pastors to give part of their time to vacancies, 
or to grant permission for licentiates to preach on probation in 
these desolate regions.! This advantage for a provision for the 
supply of ministers within the colony itself caused much comment 
on the part of the clergy of the Established Church, who had to 
depend on England for supplies. It also gave the Presbyterians 
freedom of action, and an initiative, which made them.a tre- 
mendous power in forming public opinion; and in the leadership 
in this colony for the principles of civil and religious liberty. 


We have mentioned the fact that the Episcopalians have the 
credit of making education universal in Delaware; but it remained 
for the Presbyterians to raise the standards of education so that 
the children of the worthy colonists could have the advantage of a 
college within their own neighborhood. As early as 1738 the 
Presbytery of Lewes made a proposal to the Synod of Philadelphia, 
as follows: “That this part of the world where God has ordered 
our lot, labours under a grievous disadvantage for want of the 
opportunities of universities, and professors skilled in the several 
branches of useful learning, and that many students from Europe 
are especially cramped in persecuting their studies, their parents 
removing to these colonies before they have an opportunity of 
attending the college, after having spent some years at the grammar 
school; and that many persons born in this country groan under the 
same pressure, whose circumstances are not able to support them 
to spend a course of years in Europe, or New England colleges, 
which discourages much, and must be a detriment to our church; 
for we know that natural parts, however promising, for want of 
being well improved, must be marred of their usefulness; and can- 
not be so extensively serviceable to the public, and the want of 
due pains and care paves the way for ignorance, and this for a 
formidable train of sad consequences. To prevent this evil, it is 
humbly proposed as a remedy, that every student who has not 


1 Ibid, pp.9-11. 


58 


studied with approbation, passing the usual courses in some of 
the New England, or European colleges, approved by public 
authority, shall, before he be encouraged by any Presbytery for 
the sacred work of the ministry, apply himself to this Synod, and 
that they appoint a committee of their members yearly, whom they 
know to be well skilled in the several branches of philosophy, and 
divinity, and the languages, to examine such students in this place, 
and finding them well accomplished in those several parts of learn- 
ing, shallallow them a public téstimonial from the Synod, which, till 
better provisions be made, will in some measure answer the design 
of taking a degree in college. And for encouragement of students 
let this be done, without putting them to further expense than 
attending. And let it be an objection against none, where they have 
read, or what books, but let all encouragement be only according 
to merit. And ’tis hoped this will fill our youth with a laudable 
emulation, prevent errors young men may imbibe by reading with- 
out direction, or things of little value, will banish ignorance, fill our 
infant church with men eminent for parts and learning, and advance 
the glory of God, and the honour of our Synod both at home and 
among our neighbors, who conceive a low opinion of us for want of 
such favorable opportunities. "Tis further proposed, that all that 
are not licensed to preach the gospel, what university. or college 
wheresoever they come from, may undergo the same trials.” ! 


An analysis of this important document brings out the follow- 
ing facts: (1) The colonists were suffering from lack of an oppor- 
tunity of attending college, after having completed their elemen- 
tary education; (2) the students who had recently come over, as 
well as the ones who were natives of Delaware were being deprived 
of a college education; (3) that the public would lose some good 
leaders, if the natural talents of these students were not developed; 
(4) That there were numerous men in their own Synod who could 
handle courses in philosophy, divinity and the languages in such a 
way that their instruction would be equal to the knowledge gained 
in college; (5) that instruction would be without expense to the stu- 
dents; (6) that encouragement would be given according to merit; 


1 Records of the Presbyterian Church, p. 141. 


59 


(7) that this would be a means of encouraging the youths to study, 
and therefore, would dispel the ignorance so prevalent in these 
regions; (8) and, finally,..t would force the Episcopalians to respect 
their ministers as men of learning and prominence. Thirty years 
before hostilities began, therefore, the Presbyterians, through the 
power of their religion, were breaking away from the powers that 
be, and were providing themselves with an education that would 
fit men to take their places among the foremost statesmen of the 
Revolutionary period. Their love and desire for education was 
an inheritance from their forefathers; but their initiative in pro- 
viding for education under new environments is worthy of the 
admiration of every intelligent people.! As some idea of the 
work of educating and examining the ministers has already been 
given, it is merely necessary to add that the Presbyteries of 
Lewes and New Castle, in Delaware, supplied a college educa- 
tion for candidates for the Presbyterian ministry, and they also 
were influential in establishing the Old Log Church in New 
Jersey, a college organized primarily for the education of Pres- 
byterian ministers. 


A revision of this order was made in 1739, which provided 
that the candidates for the ministry “‘shall be examined by the 
whole Synod, or its commission, as to those preparatory studies 
which we generally pass through at the college, and if they find him 
qualified, they shall give him a certificate, which shall be received 
by our respective Presbyteries as equivalent to a diploma or 
certificate from the college.” ? 


As a matter of course, the adherents of Log College, at Nesh- 
iminy, which had primarily been designed for the education of 
the four sons of William Tennent, and later developed into a college 
for the Presbyterian ministry, raised serious objections.* It 
appeared to them that their work was being discounted, and that 
a Synodical college was to be erected. In retaliation, the members 
of the Log College faction ignored the rule of the Synod of Phila- 


1Vallandinham, History of the Presbytery of New Castle. p 3. 
2 Ford, The Scotch-Irish in America, p. 420; Records of Philadelphia 


Synod, p. 147. 
’ Murphy, The Presbytery of Log College, p. 73. 


60 


delphia, and licensed John Rowland, a Log College graduate. 
However, Rowland was notified that he would have to abide by 
the ruling of the Synod, and would not be permitted to preach 
until he submitted to an examination by that body. 

In order to carry out the designs of the Synod, a committee 
was appointed to meet at Philadelphia for the purpose of making 
plans for the erection of an institution of learning that would 
meet the needs of anyone who wished a higher education. Two 
members were to go to Europe to obtain aid, but various things 
delayed them in this pursuit, such as the war between Spain and 
England, and friction at home with respect to church discipline. } 
In the meantime the Log College forces had joined the Synod of 
New York in an attempt to form the Synod of New Jersey, with 
the intention of making application for a charter from the govern- 
ment for the College of New Jersey. But the death of William 
Tennent, May 6, 1746, acted as a palliative upon the members of 
the Philadelphia Synod and Log College, and they came to an 
understanding that, after all, they were both striving for the same 
ideal, and it would be to their interests to unite their energies. 
As a result, five of the twelve of the trustees for the College were 
elected from the Log College adherents. ? 

The College of New Jersey, which sprang into being from 
the suggestions made by the Lewes Presbytery in the Annual 
Meeting of the Synod of Philadelphia, 1738, was differentiated 
from other colleges of similar equipment, from the fact of its broad 
policy, for it was not designed as “a denominational agency but 
as an educational agency from which all the learned professors 
could benefit.”” The privilege of higher education should not debar 
anyone “on account of any speculative principles of religion” 
has been the policy of the college through the years when it was 
called The College of New Jersey, and since that time under the 
University of Princeton. ° 

1Ford, p. 421. 

2 Ibid, p. 424; Records, p. 185. 

2Ford, p. 424. There are various opinions as to the origin of the College 
of New Jersey. In 1822, President Ashbel Green claimed that the origin of 
the College was due to a rupture in 1741, which resulted in the division of 
the Synod of Philadelphia, and the organization of the Synod of New York 


as a rival body. 
3 Ibid, p. 425. 


61 


Thus it may be seen that the initiative of the Delaware 
Presbytery in 1738, was a powerful factor from a religious and 
educational point of view, which had a tremendous influence over 
the men who piloted the affairs of state through two of the greatest 
critical periods of our history. 


QUAKER EDUCATION 


Although the Episcopalians have the honor of being the 
first to introduce universal education into Delaware, and the 
Presbyterians for their provisions for higher education, there 
remain two honors for the Quakers which mark them as worthy 
leaders in the intellectual world. They have the honor of making 
the first provision for a school of industrial arts; and they were the 
first to provide for a public school system.! When under the 
government of Pennsylvania, a provision was made for the govern- 
ment to erect and control a public school system; and for the 
encouragement of inventions and sciences, a suitable reward was 
offered. A committee was also provided to look after the conduct 
of the children as well as the adults of the province, in order to 
train them in virtuous ways of living. Another law provided for 
industrial education of all children twelve years old or over, to 
prepare for any emergency that might arise in their future lives. ? 
This was the basis of industrial education in the United States. 
The study of manual training seemed to be of more importance 
than a knowledge of the languages and literature, according to 
the ideas of the great leader of the Quakers, who planned his 
form of government in 1682. 


After the “Great Law’ was passed by the Pennsylvania 
legislature, it was provided that this book of laws should be taught 
in all schools.? Other laws followed, which provided for the 
building of school houses, and the governor of the province to- 
gether with one-third of the council were to constitute a com- 
mittee to manage the education of the younger generation. 

1 Powell, pp. 28-29. 

2 Ibid, p. 28. 


3 Charters and Laws of the Province of Pennsylvania, p. 123. 
William and Mary abrogated this law, 1693. 


62 


Compulsory education was provided for by forcing all who did 
not have their children educated in reading and writing before 
reaching the age of twelve, a fine of five pounds was to be 
paid for every healthy and sound child. Besides, children were 
to be taught some useful trade, which clearly anticipated 
our present method of industrial education. This law for 
compulsory education far exceeds any other provision of a similar 
nature made in America, because there was no opportunity to 
evade the law. However, the law was abrogated ten years later, 
under the rule of William and Mary; but was re-enacted at a 
later time, and remains on record to the present time as a fitting 
memorial of the interest in education taken by the Quakers. ! 


The oldest school in Delaware which has had a continuous 
existence since its establishment, is‘the Friends’ School in Wil- 
mington. It is indeed a quaint old relic of the colonial days, 
standing near the center of the city just as it stood during the 
Revolutionary period. On the inside are the colonial ‘“‘forms’’ and 
the straight-backed benches. The little chapel, which is really 
a part of the school, has stood the test of ages, and the Friends 
are there also, carrying out their principles just as they did in the 
pre-Revolutionary period. This old school was built in 1748, and 
served as an elementary school up to the time of the Revolution, 
where the chief studies taught were “‘Readin, ’Riten, and ’Rith- 
metic.” 2 But, probably more students passed through its doors 
with a knowledge of these subjects than can be credited to any 
other school within the bounds of Delaware. Thus, we may say 
that the Quakers have the honor of making more general provisions 
for the education of the younger children than those which were 
made by any other denomination. ° 


WILMINGTON SCHOOLS 


Unfortunately, these commendable beginnings on the part 
of the various denominations were not conducive to an establish- 
ment for a public school system. There was a general tendency 

1 Powell, p. 29. 


2 Ibid, p. 43. 
1 Powell, p. 43. 


63 


on the part of each of the sects to provide denominational schools 
of higher learning, with a general purpose for the preparation to 
become ministers of the gospel. On the other hand, with the 
exception of the schools under the control of the Quakers, the 
younger students had to depend upon private schools for their 
elementary education. There were numerous schools in Delaware 
throughout the colonial period, run by private individuals, regard- 
less of racial or religious differences. The teachers of these schools 
were not well educated; but they had strong moral characters, 
and naturally had a good influence in the community. The 
course of instruction, in general, was very elementary, including 
reading, writing and arithmetic, and sometimes needlework for 
girls. 


One of the most popular of these schools was conducted by 
Mrs. Elizabeth Way, an energetic Baptist, from the Brandywine 
Church, who moved to Wilmington in 1764. Her famous school 
was established for the instruction of needlework, and during her 
thirty years of service, nearly two-thirds of the female inhabitants 
of the town could boast that they had studied the art of shirt- 
making, or of fancy work under her strict supervision. Mrs. 
Montgomery, who knew her personally, remembered that she kept 
“a bunch of switches or cat-o’nine-tails” which “were freely used 
to correct the naughty.” ! In case any of them slighted her work, 
leather spectacles had to be worn; and if any of the girls held the 
head too low, or bent too far forward, while sewing, there were 
various ways of punishment to make the “‘crooked way Straight.” ! 


John Thedwell was another famous schoolmaster in Wil- 
mington during the Revolutionary period. Besides teaching school, 
his duties were so numerous that we would be inclined to call him 
a ““Jack-of-all-trades,” were he living at the present time. According 
to the account of his friend, Mrs. Montgomery, he was “‘an ex- 
horter,” “a ruler,” “a clerk of the market,” “a bellman,” and 
“a crier.”’? In his school he used the ancient Horn Book, which 
was merely a thin board, containing the alphabet, the numerals, 


1 Powell, p. 41. 
a 1bid, paA?2: 


64 


and the Lord’s prayer, covered over with a transparent piece of 
horn, and securely fastened to a brass plate, to “‘protect it from 
the unwashed fingers of the pupils.”! After the Revolution, 
England ceased to import this important article, and the future 
generations had to be content with Dillworth’s old spelling book, 
as a substitute. The school was opened by prayer and the singing 
of a hymn; and the Bible was used as a text book for the Senior 
class. If perchance, a spirit of independence held sway for a 
moment, the ferule was at hand to subdue the young republican 
until further subjection was found to be necessary. Both boys 
and girls attended this school, but strange to say, the boys went 
in at the front entrance, and the girls up the alley. However, 
it is probable that the eldest sae of John Thedwell had 


entire charge of the girls. ? 


Among other noted schoolmasters in Wilmington, may be 
mentioned Master Wilson, who had been made notorious as the 
first man in Delaware who objected to higher education for 
women. Although his school was open to both sexes, he did not 
think it necessary for girls to “go in arithmetic further than simple 
division, "cause it was no use; only tom boys, with big slates, 
would care to cipher in the Double Rule of Three.” Another was 
James Filson, who taught school in Wilmington during the pre- 
Revolutionary period. After the Revolution, he returned; but 
decided later to make his abode with Daniel Boone in Kentucky, 
and while there he became a famous historian. 4 


These numerous schools in Wilmington, such as they were, 
just before the Revolution, leads us to believe that there was an 
opportunity for all who had money to pay for their schooling, and 
in many cases for those poorer people who wished to go to school, 
but could not afford to pay for it. From the accounts given, it is 
evident that the schools were of a very low grade as compared 
with the schools of the present day; but, judging from the strict 
supervision over the conduct of the pupils, more attention was 

1 Ibid, p. 42. 

2 Powell, p. 42. 


3 Ibid, p. 47. 
‘ Ibid. 


paid to the morals than to the actual knowledge of the subject 
to be learned. 

The Old Academy of Wilmington, which was built in 1765, 
was an institution built by some of the chief leaders of the town. 
The Rev. Lawrence Girelius, Bishop White, Hon. Thomas McKean, 
Dr. Robert Smith, Thomas Gilpin, Dr. Nicholas Way, and Joseph 
Shallcross, were the first trustees; and Robert Patterson was the 
first President. We do not know how well he taught his pupils in 
the various branches of knowledge before the Revolutionary War 
broke out; but as soon as hostilities began he turned his establish- 
ment into a military school; and after his pupils had become 
sufficiently well versed in military tactics, he took several of them 
with him to the war. ! 


About 1774, the Quakers became very much alarmed at the 
diminution of their membership; and at their yearly meeting they 
urged parents to take great care in instructing them in the prin- 
ciples of their religion. They were particularly solicituous about 
the kind of schoolmasters and schoolmistresses under whom they 
were instructed; for they wished their children to lead a life of 
self-denial.2_ And, although the Friends were unable to carry out 
their plans in this respect, it is interesting to note that as soon as 
hostilities were ended between the mother country and hér colonies, 
the Quakers began to be less fearful of their religion, and of their 
records; and it was found that in nearly every place where there 
was an established Quaker meeting-house, there was invariably a 
school attached to it. 


NEWARK ACADEMY 


The most famous school for higher education in Delaware is 
Newark Academy, whose foundation was laid when the famous 
Lewes proposal was made to the Synod in 1738.3 A few years 
before it was organized, a great stream of emigrants came from 
Scotland and Ireland, bringing with them many schoolmasters, 
thus furnishing an opportunity for every Presbyterian settlement 

1 Powell, p. 47. 


* Wickersham, A History of Education in Pennsylvania, p. 85. 
® Weeks, History of Public Education in Delaware, p. 17. 


66 


to have a schoolmaster. The usual method of instruction followed 
by these schoolmasters was for the children to study the catechism 
at home, and to recite it at school. The Psalms was commonly 
sung, at the spinning wheel, over the cradle, or in the fields; and 
the catechisms had to be learned by old and young, rich and 
poor, servant and master.? 


Many of these settlers landed in Delaware, mainly in the 
northern part, and along the seacoast. Among them were some of 
the best classes of people that the countries of Scotland and Ireland 
could produce; and yet, many of them were poor, and could not 
afford to go to any further expense for their education. Hence, 
the school was established by the Presbyterians with the purpose 
of forming it into a college later. At first the school was established 
at New London, Pennsylvania, but was removed to Newark, 
Delaware, in 1752. The first principal was Francis Allison, who 
was called by President Stiles, of Yale, ‘the greatest classical 
scholar in America, especially in Greek.”2 The Rev. Edward 
Neill said of him: “‘As a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian, Allison was 
imbued with the idea that the school was as necessary to the 
church as the anvil to the blacksmith, and that Christianity must 
advance by employing keen-eyed science as her servant. He was 
among the first to agitate for a college in Pennsylvania and 
Delaware.” * His life is also remarkable because of the famous 
men who studied under him. Among them were: Col. John 
Bayard; Ebenezer Hazard, United States Post-Master General, 
1782-89; John Henry, United States Senator, 1789-97, governor 
of Maryland; James Latta, D.D., a famous Presbyterian clergy- 
man; Col. Alexander Martin, governor of North Carolina; Dr. 
John Ewing, provost of the University of Pennsylvania; Thomas 
McKean, signer of the Declaration, president of Congress, 1781, 
governor of Pennsylvania, 1799-1808; George Read, United States 
senator from Delaware, 1789-1793; and many others.4 Surely, 
the assumption made in the Synod of Philadelphia, that the 


1 Pennsylvania Magazine of History, VIII, p. 45. 
2 Powell, pp. 73-74. 
3 


4 Powell, 73-74. 


67 


Presbyterians could establish a college that would produce men 
of prominence had been exemplified long before the Revolution. 


The importance of the school lies in the fact that it served as 
a basis for preparing men for the ministry, and to rear men to 
take their places in the state as statesmen, fitted for the tasks that 
affronted them in 1775. What more fitting agency could have 
been made than this institution of learning which educated many 
Congressmen, many writers, and many lawyers, ministers, and, 
therefore, prepared them for the fight for independence when the 
final day arrived. It was at the height of its prosperity as a colonial 
institution, at the outbreak of the war; but, in 1777, Thomas 
McKean, governor of Delaware, says of it: “On my arrival, I 
found all the records and papers of the County of New Castle, and 
every shilling of the public money, together with the fund belonging 
to the trustees of Newark Academy, and upwards of $25,000 in 
Continental Loan Office, etc., had been captured at Wilmington.” ! 


Although the exact account has not been ascertained, it 1s 
interesting to note that a majority of the famous men of Delaware 
have been connected with this institution at some time during 
their lives in the pre-Revolutionary days. Another factor, of vital 
importance in the history of the institution, is the fact-that great 
care was taken by the Synod to make it an institution on a level 
or in affiliation with Harvard and Yale. As early as 1745 the 
Synod of Philadelphia sent an application to the trustees of Yale 
“to receive their scholars at such stages as their efficiency warranted 
and to admit them after one year’s residence to a degree.””? From 
the fact that a favorable response? was sent shortly afterwards 
leads us to believe that this was a superior college at this time of 
its existence; and, also afterwards, if we may judge a college from 
the type of people who graduate there. 


Its rank as a college of a high type of learning was due in a 
large measure to the fact that it was under the direct supervision 
of trustees appointed by the Synod, who met twice a year “to 
inspect the master’s diligence and methods of teaching, to direct 


2 Porter, p. 6. 
1 Powell, p. 72. 


68 


what authors are chiefly to be read in the several branches of 
learning, to examine the scholars as to their proficiency and good 
conduct, and applying the money procured to such uses as they 
judge proper, and to order all affairs relating to the schools.” ! 
Several ministers and gentlemen helped them to start a library, 
which added to the success of the school.? In 1773, a permanent 
endowment fund was formed as a result of generous donations 
from the Penns and other worthy gentlemen.? This interest on the 
part of the Penns, was, no doubt, aroused by the famous alumni# 
who lived in Pennsylvania. 


KENT County SCHOOLS 


In Kent County the schools were similar to those in New 
Castle County, but fewer in number. The people in this section 
of Delaware were much more ignorant than they were in the 
communities north of them, owing to the fact that there was a 
different type of people who made up the majority of the popula- 
tion, and also that there were more scattered communities, and 
fewer schools. The first knowledge of schools in this section is 
given by Dr. Nathaniel Luff, who attended a school in Dover, 
1767-1768. He says: “Here I was no longer set on my feet and 
introduced to my associates than I was led out to battle; as children 
fight cocks so did these corrupt youths of Dover entrap the innocent 
and unguarded into a maze of error and dissipation, proportioned 
to each one’s age and circumstances. A few men anxious for the 
promotion of their children were excessively gulled by tutors; 
themselves, unacquainted with the learned languages and sciences, 
prompted by ambition and secured by wealth, they were willing 
to go great lengths but for want of proper knowledge they expended 
their money to little purpose, and established habits that were 
unsubstantial and hard to eradicate. Thus it was that after being 


1 Records of the Philadelphia Synod, p. 187. 

2 Thid, p. 188. 

* Porter, p. 6. 

4 Powell, p. 74. (Powell says: It appears that Dr. Allison instructed no 
less than four Governors, eight Congressmen, and four signers of the Declaration 
of Independence. Certainly few schoolmasters in the United States ever 


taught a larger number of pupils who afterwards acquired such distinguished 
reputation.) 


69 


two years at school to acquire a knowledge of the Latin language, 
I was so improperly taught that on my going to Philadelphia I 
had to begin again, and I found the mode of tuition so diverse 
that it would have been for my benefit had it been my first essay, 
and the school tuition was more than two prices in Dover to what 
it was in Philadelphia, so that I had to pay double price for errone- 
ous principles.” } 

It appears from these statements that the people were becom- 
ing aroused to the need of education; but many of them were so 
ignorant that they were incapable of judging the qualities of a 
good teacher. From another standpoint, it may have been that 
they were compelled to employ poor teachers, or suffer the penalty 
of being deprived of teachers altogether. 


SussEx County SCHOOLS 


In Sussex County also the educational advantages appear to 
have been atlow ebb. From all information thatcan be gained from 
available records, there does not seem to have been a schoolmaster 
there before 1734, when John Russel,is mentioned as performing the 
functions of a deputy recorder as well as an educator.? Traditions 
there were that Lewes had been preeminent throughout the Middle 
Colonies for its provisions for female education; but there is 
nothing definite to indicate the authenticity thereof. However, 
there must have been some form of education even before the time 
of John Russel. Some people must have been interested from the 
fact that a special provision was made for the support of schools 
in Lewes by Thomas Lloyd who ordered that the income obtained 
from the Grand Marsh, a grazing section situated northwest of 
the town, should be used for school purposes.? Again, it does not 
appear reasonable that in a community where a Presbytery had 
made such an earnest petition for a higher institution of learning, 
would neglect the elementary education, which furnished a back- 
ground for the success of a university, or college. 

An interesting feature connected with the Lewes schools is 
the tradition that the first girls’ school in America was established 


1 Quoted by Powell, p. 74. 
2 Powell, p. 61. 


in this town. Nothing definite is known about it; but it was 
probably in existence in the latter part of the seventeenth century. 
In referring to this period, Watson, the historian, says: “‘At this 
early period of time so much had the little town, Lewistown, at 
our southern cape the preeminence in female tuition, that Thomas 
Lloyd, the deputy governor, preferred to send his youngest 
daughters from Philadelphia to that place to finish their educa- 
tion.””! 


1 Jbid, Note. 


ve 


CHAPTER V 


SLAVERY IN DELAWARE DURING THE 
REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD 


Laws RELATING TO SLAVERY 


Before entering into the subject of slavery from the viewpoint 
of the denominations, it is well to know something about the 
restrictions on slavery made by the government of Delaware. 
In 1767, an act was passed for the better regulation of slavery. 
This was found necessary, owing to the fact that experience with 
free negroes had shown them to “be idle and slothful, and often 
prove burdensome to the neighborhood wherein they live, and 
are evil examples to slaves.” ! In the case of a negro above the 
age of thirty-five, or one who was infirm, and unable to take care 
of himself, an indemnity of thirty pounds must be furnished by 
the owner, in order to secure the colony from any charge that 
might be incurred in case of illness, or inability to support one’s 
self, and the negro would not receive his freedom until this 
was paid. ! 

Another act of the Legislature was found necessary to be 
made for the support of negro children, whose parents either refused 
or were unable to take care of them. The law provides that the 
Justice of the Peace and the Overseer of the Poor form themselves 
into a committee to bind these children out to servitude until they 
were twenty-one in the case of males, and eighteen in the case of 
females. ” 

There was also an act wherein free negroes were prohibited 
from entertaining slaves; and in case of a violation of this act 
they were subject to a fine. Inability, or a refusal to pay the 
fine, resulted in a public whipping. Certain rewards were also 

1 Delaware Laws, Vol. I, p. 210. 


2 Ibid, 214, 435. 
3 Delaware Laws, Vol. I, p. 214. 


72 


offered for taking up slaves who ventured ten miles from home. ! 
And, any one who stole a slave, or who bought a stolen slave, was 
to be subject to the death penalty without the benefit of clergy. ? 


THE Baptists AND SLAVERY 


The Baptists in Delaware have left no records as to their 
attitude toward slavery; but it is reasonable to surmise that there 
was very little slavery ownership among the members of this 
religious sect in the colony. It is not probable that the people who 
lived within their fields of labor around the Welsh Tract Church, 
near Iron Hill, would be likely to own slaves as most of these 
inhabitants were miners, shop keepers, blacksmiths, with a few 
bankers and lawyers as a very small part of the community. 
However, there is a possibility of a few planters owning slaves in 
Pencader, * and in the lowlands of Kent and Sussex Counties; but 
there is no record, as far as we know, that such was the case. 
It is more probable that they took the same attitude as the Quakers 
upon this subject, as they were very similar to them in many 
respects during the colonial period. 

An observation to this effect was taken by a Frenchman, 
named La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, who traveled in the United 
States after peace was declared between England and the United 
States at the close of the Revolutionary War. He informs us 
that the Baptists and the Quakers kept no slaves while other 
denominations did. He also remarks that the Baptists and the 
Quakers were probably of the same mind in regard to admitting 
negroes to membership in their churches, on the basis of the 
principle of the brotherhood of man.4 Among the main things 
that both of these denominations stressed before the Revolution 
was that masters should give their slaves time for religious 
worship. ® 


FDU Dee Loe 

2 Ibid, p. 237. 

8 Baptist Library, Vol. I, p. 293. (Morgan Edwards is mentioned as pur- 
chasing a plantation near Newark, New Castle County, in 1772; but itis not 
recorded that he owned slaves.) 

4 Philadelphia Baptist Association, p. 105. (The Baptists are urged to 
“‘do all things whatsoever may tend to promote brotherly love and charity;” 
but no mention of slavery is recorded.) 

5 La Rochefoucauld-Laincourt, Travels, p. 237. 


i 


THE EPIsCOPALIANS AND SLAVERY 


After the Quakers, the Episcopalians were the most important 
agencies, as far the records show, in seeking the welfare of the 
negro. They differed, however, in their methods and ideas of what 
should be done for them. The Quakers believed that unless the 
negro had his freedom first, an education would be of little value 
to him; but it was vitally necessary that he should be instructed 
in moral conduct, and in the pious religion of the Friends. On the 
other hand, the Episcopalians were not interested at first, in 
freeing the negroes; but they had always been more or less in- 
terested in their religious instruction. It was not until the latter 
part of the eighteenth century, possibly before the Revolution, 
that many of the clergymen began to make preparations for the 
freedom of the slaves by teaching them such knowledge as would 
make them ready to appreciate their freedom when it was obtained. 
They looked upon the slaves as a very dependent and weak people, 
both morally and intellectually; and they believed that emancipa- 
tion without some knowledge of what a person should know in 
order to take care of one’s self would be of little value, and would 
probably result in a return to slavery. 


The missionaries of the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts were probably the only workers among the 
Episcopalians for the welfare of the negroes. They saw that they 
were baptized, and that they had the right kind of religious in- 
struction, as far as was in their power; and, in some places accepted 
them as members of the Church. In Delaware, the Rev. George 
Ross is the first missionary, of whom we have any record, to take 
interest in the negroes. In 1727, he reports to the Secretary of 
the society that there were about fifty negroes in his parish, 
“‘concerning whose instruction very little care is taken * * * some 
of them in the hands of Quakers, who leave them to their own 
common principles, the natural light. Others are in the possession 
of Protestant dissenters, who are so taken with the doctrine of 
absolute decrees, that no great stress is laid upon the outward 
ceremony of Baptism. Those few who are baptized belong to 
Churchmen.”’! 


1 Perry, Historical Collections, Vol. V. P. 47. 
74 


Mr. Pugh, another missionary, in his report to the Society, 
in 1736, writes: “I must confess I do not expect to baptize many 
Negroes, for their masters are generally so much prejudiced against 
their being made Christians that it seems past my skill to work 
any good with them.” ! 


These statements are similar in their make-up to what the 
Rev. Mr. Reading has to say in 1752. Writing from his home in 
Appoquinimy, Delaware, to the Society, he says: ““That branch of 
my duty which relates to the conversion of the unhappy slaves 
affords the least comfortable prospect. I have often, both publicly 
and privately, recommended it to the masters and mistresses as 
a duty of the greatest importance to forward as much as in them 
lies, the instruction of their slaves; and in serious well-governed 
families this has had so good effect as to bring some negro adults 
and many of their children to Christian baptism; but these converts 
bear no proportion to the numbers of those who live as without 
God in the world. Some even of our own church who are otherwise 
well inclined are strongly prejudiced against their slaves being 
instructed; and I sincerely wish that the slaves themselves by 
their rebellious behavior after baptism, had not given too much 
cause for such prejudice: promote the spiritual welfare of this 
meanest branch of their families, who think but little (if at all) 
of their own eternal State.” ? 


It would appear from these statements that the missionary 
had a double duty to perform, one to convert the master to his 
way of thinking, and the other to lead the negroes in the ways of 
righteousness for their eternal welfare. The former, being the 
more powerful factor, were hard to be convinced that better serv- 
ants would result from such training, instead of the insubordination 
which they expected from the experience.’ As to the slaves, it 
was extremely difficult to collect a sufficient number together to 
give them class instruction, from the fact that the masters opposed 
any meetings of the negroes, and also because few of them could 

1 Ibid, I, p. 196. 

2 Perry, Historical Collections, Vol. II, p. 184. 


83 Pascoe, Two Hundred Years of the Society for the Propagation of the 
Gospel in Foreign Parts, p. 64. 


75 


leave their duties long enough to study, or to listen to the mission- 
aries. The lack of sufficient time, and the scarcity of missionaries 
also added to the difficulties of negro conversion. ! 


Not only the missionaries of the Society were important 
agencies in the religious welfare of the negro; but the Bishop of 
London, was instrumental in bringing many things to pass which 
would lead to the conversion of the blacks. In 1713-1714, they 
interceded Parliament in behalf of the negro;? and frequent 
instructions were sent to missionaries, to persuade the masters 
to take great care in the religious instruction of the negroes. 3 
Thus, we may readily see that the missionaries, although handi- 
capped, had a mission to perform for the advancement of the 
negroes as well as the whites. 


THE LUTHERANS AND SLAVERY 


The Lutherans were, at the beginning of theeighteenthcentury, 
opposed to slavery in any form, either among the Indians or the 
negroes. But, when labor became a problem, after the amount 
of their land increased, they began to buy slaves, just as the other 
denominations had done. Their attitude toward their slaves was 
not as harsh as that in other sects, for they were very particular 
to give them time for religious instruction; and would not permit 
them to labor on the Sabbath day, or on any other church festival 
day. Their attendance at all religious services was compulsory. 4 


Inasmuch as the Swedish Lutherans of Delaware were ab- 
sorbed by the Episcopalians before the close of the eighteenth 
century, it is reasonable to surmise that they had adopted their 
customs, and ideas about slavery. Hence, we may infer that the 
Swedish Lutherans ignored the slavery question from the stand- 
point of a religous body; but, that many of them as individuals 
held slaves, and even a Swedish Lutheran minister is said to have 
possessed a slave in 1732.5 Yet, the negroes were always instructed 

1 Humphreys, S. P. G., p. 234. 

2 Ibid, pp. 60-62; Jernegan, Slavery and Conversion in the American Col- 
onies (in Amer. Hist. Rev. Vol. XXI, p. 510.) 

3 Ibid, p. 511. 


4 Jacobs, p. 168. 
5 Ibid, p. 101. 


76 


in religious exercises,! and they were possibly better taken care 
of than many of the white servants who came over from Europe. 


We may gain some idea of the general attitude of the Swedish 
Lutherans in their daily walks of life. Many of them were mer- 
chants, who did not need slave labor; others were farmers, who 
could have used them if they could have afforded it. In case of 
the latter view being true, the planter, or farmer, would possibly 
buy a number of young negroes as was done in Georgia; and these 
would be placed under a religious instructor. ! 


THE METHODISTS AND SLAVERY 


As a denomination, the Methodists were also rather indifferent 
to slavery. They do not seem to have looked upon the subject 
as worthy of consideration; for we find no references to the subject 
in their early conferences. However, there were two famous 
Methodists who spent a great part of their time in Delaware during 
the Revolutionary War, who expressed their opposition to slavery. 
On June 16, 1776, Francis Asbury writes in his Fournal: “After 
preaching * * * I met the class, and then the black people, some 
of whose unhappy masters forbid their coming for religious 
instruction. How will these sons of oppression answer for their 
conduct when the Great Proprietor of all shall call them to their 
account?”’2 Freeborn Garretson, the other famous Methodist, 
manumitted his slaves even before the close of the Revolutionary 


War. 3 


The slavery question seems to have troubled Mr. Asbury a 
great deal, for on June 10, 1778, he again writes: “I find the more 
pious part of the people called Quakers, are exerting themselves 
for the liberation of the slaves. This is a very laudable design; 
and what the Methodists must come to, or I fear the Lord will de- 
part from them. But there is cause to presume, that some are more 
intent on promoting the freedom of their bodies, than the freedom 
of their souls; without which they must be vassals of Satan in 

1 Jernegan, Op. cit. p. 510. 


2 Asbury, Journal, I, p. 141; Matlock, Methodism and Slavery, p. 12. 
3 McTyiere, p. 310 


ad 


eternal fire. Sometimes I have been afraid that I have done 
wrong in retiring from the work; though, as far as I can judge, 
the glory of God and the prosperity of the church, were my chief 
objects.””! Wesley had the same point of view, when he said: 
“Liberty is the right of every human creature as soon as he 
breathes the air, and no human law can deprive him of it. I 
absolutely deny all slaveholdings to be consistent with any degree 
of natural justice.” 


THE PRESBYTERIANS AND SLAVERY 


The Presbyterians paid very little attention to the subject 
of slavery up to the time of the Revolutionary War, at which time 
they began to realize how much liberty meant to them. No 
official action was taken by any of the Presbyteries or the Synods 
before 1774, when Rev. Ezra Stiles and Rev. Samuel Hopkins 
brought before the Synod of New York and Philadelphia a repre- 
sentation “‘respecting the sending of two natives of Africa on a 
mission to propagate Christianity in their native country, and a 
request that the Synod would countenance this undertaking by 
an appropriation of it,” was read at the yearly conference. ? 
After much discussion, a committee was appointed to consider 
the matter. Although Messrs. John Miller, ? Caldwell, Dr. Rogers, 
and Montgomery, all men of efficiency, were on the committee, 
nothing seems to have been accomplished,‘ and the subject is 
not mentioned again until 1780, when the records give the following 
information: ‘“The committee appointed to review the records of 
the Synod as far back as the year 1774, report that an affair 
respecting the enslaving of negroes appears to have been before 
the Synod, A. D. 1774, but by some means passed over the 
following Synods, and not since resumed.” 5 


As far as the Presbyterian ministers in Delaware were con- 
cerned, we have at least one instance which may give some idea 


1 Asbury, Journal, 214-216; Matlock 22-3. 

2 Records of the Synod of New York and Philadelphia, p. 456. 
3 Miller was connected with the Delaware churches for years. 
* Records of the Presbyterian Church, p. 456. 

5 Ibid, p. 487. 


78 


of their attitude toward slavery. Aside from the information 
that the Presbyterians were not hostile to slavery, it merely men- 
tions the fact that Matthew Wilson, a Presbyterian of Lewes, 
Delaware, was “indulgent to the negroes to whom he was master, 
quick to aid the poor and distressed.”’! 


THE QUAKERS AND SLAVERY 


During the early history of the Quaker regime in Pennsylvania, 
when Delaware was a part of that province, the Friends, in common 
with other colonists, were compelled to use slave labor on their 
plantations, on their small farms, and in their homes, since very 
few white servants were available.? This fact was augmented by 
William Penn, who “offered the Swedes a piece of land, where 
they might live together, and enjoy their own customs.” * The 
only requirement made by Penn was that the people under his 
jurisdiction should be willing to acknowledge the one Almighty 
God to be the Creator, Upholder and Ruler of the World,” and 
all who lived “peaceably and justly in civil society” should not 
be molested in their customs and manners of religious worship. ‘ 
This freedom of worship granted to the people of Pennsylvania 
naturally applied to Delaware, a province of Pennsylvania at 
that time. 


Although the Quakers did not reach the point of freeing their 
slaves until the latter part of the eighteenth century, they treated 
them more humanely than did most of the colonists; they con- 
sidered them as brethren, sympathized with their failings, and 
were always careful about their religious instruction.® It is 
universally known that the Quakers were the most influential of 
all religious denominations in providing for the freedom of their 
slaves during the colonial period. In 1730, at their Yearly Meeting 
in Philadelphia, they advised that all Friends should be very 
cautious about buying slaves in the future as it was obnoxious 

1 Pennsylvania Magazine of History, VIII, v. 55. 

2 Woody, T. Early Quaker Education, p. 237; Applegarth, p. 67. 

3 Clay, Annals, p. 30. 


4 Bowden, 11. p. 14. 
5 Applegarth, p. 76. 


i 


to their principles.1 In 1758, the verdict went forth from the Yearly 
Meeting that the Monthly Meetings should be particularly earnest 
in their efforts to induce all Friends who still owned slaves to set 
them at liberty.2 Consequently, committees were appointed at 
the Monthly Meetings for the purpose of appealing to all Friends 
who purchased slaves after this date. John Woolman, the 
famous apostle of emancipation, was present at this memorable 
meeting; and he urged upon the Friends to delay the freedom of 
the slaves no longer. From this time forward there was a gradual 
reduction in the number of slaves among Friends.* By 1774, the 
Yearly Meeting could report that its members had practically 
accomplished the freedom of slaves among Friends.* But there 
still remained a few Quakers who continued to disregard the 
admonition of Friends, ® claiming their right to hold slaves who had 
come to them by inheritance.? In 1775, it was decided to exclude 
all Friends from membership in their Society if they continued to 
hold slaves;® but decided action was not taken until the Yearly 
Meeting in 1776, when “‘a statute of excommunication was launched 
against every member who should longer detain a negro in a state 
of bondage.” ® But the obligation of the Quakers did not end 
with this emancipation; for a further announcement to the Monthly 
Meetings instructed them to provide for a suitable living for the 
negro. /° 

Although there are no available records of the Monthly 
Meetings in Delaware to show what was actually done by the 
Friends, in this province, it is safe to surmise that they were not 
lacking in their efforts to bring about the freedom of the slave. 
Indeed, we have the assurance of Mr. Early that Delaware was 
not only the first province in America, but the first country in 
the world to make a special enactment for the prohibition of 

5 Early, Heritage of the South, p. 30. 

2 Applegarth, Quakers in Pennsylvania, p. 79. 

3 Jones, p. 518. 

4 Bowden, Vol. II, p. 212. 

5 Rise and Progress of the Testimony of Friends against Slavery, p. 24. 

6 Bowden, II, p. 215. 

7 Applegarth, p. 79. 

§ Janney, History of the Religious Society of Friends, III, 315-7. 


9 Applegarth, p. 181. 
10 Tbhid, p. 182. 


80 


slavery within its limits. Unfortunately, the enactment which 
was made in 1771, was vetoed by William Penn.! However, it 
shows the attitude of the Quakers at this time. It bears a further 
significance from the fact that the prohibition of the slave trade 
was incorporated in the first Constitution of Delaware, in 1776.! 


The right of religious instruction was always provided for 
negroes owned by Friends. As early as the seventeenth century 
we have evidence from George Fox that he took a special interest 
in the instruction of the negroes.2 In 1696, the Pennsylvania 
Yearly Meeting urged their members to be careful about the treat- 
ment of the negroes in their possession.* In 1758, the Yearly 
Meeting for Pennsylvania published a letter in which it was 
recommended to all Friends who held slaves by inheritance to 
“watch over them for good, instructing them in the fear of God, 
and the knowledge of the Gospel of Christ, that they may be 
glorified and honoured by them as well as by us. And so train 
them up, that if you come to behold their unhappy situation * * * 
and should think it your duty to set them free, they may be the 
more capable of making proper use of their liberty. 4 


The Quakers, by their example as a religious body, and by 
individual effort, in behalf of the negro, probably had a great in- 
fluence upon other religious denominations. They surely must 
have a strong influence in creating a more sympathetic disposition 
toward the negroes, and were the leading spirits that started the 
movement for the freedom of the slaves. 5 


In 1774, a union of Quakers with other denominations was 
formed for the purpose of uniting their forces in behalf of the slaves. 
John Pemberton, a Quaker, and Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, were 
apparently the leaders. This Society was the first of its kind formed 
in America “for promoting the abolition of slavery, and the relief 


1Early, The Heritage of the South, p. 30. 

2 Fox, A Collection of many select and Christian epistles, etc., I, p. 144, 
epistle 153, ‘‘To Friends beyond the Sea, that have blacks and Indian slaves.”’ 

3’ Clarkson, Thomas, The History of the Rise and Progress, and Accomp- 
plishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade by the British Parliament. 
Wilmington. 1816. p. 25. 

4 Ibid, 59-60. 

5 Bowden, II, 212-213; Clarkson, pp. 59-60, 69. 


81 


of free negroes, unlawfully held in bondage.! Similar societies 
were formed in Delaware; and, as they were in frequent corres- 
pondence with the Society in Pennsylvania, they no doubt used 
their earnest efforts to obtain freedom for the slaves in Delaware. ! 


In 1776, the Yearly Meeting directed its Monthly Meetings 
to disown members who persisted in holding slaves. The quest 
put forth by them at this time is as follows: ‘Are Friends clear of 
importing, purchasing, disposing of, or holding mankind as slaves? 
And do they use these well, who are set free, and necessarily 
under their care, and not in circumstances through nonage, 
or incapacity, to minister to their own necessities? And are they 
careful to educate and encourage them in a religious and virtuous 
life?” ? 

The Western section, to which Delaware belonged, replied 
in 1777, to the following effect: “Clear of importing and disposing 
of mankind as slaves, also of purchasing, in all our meetings, 
except one, from which a doubt is hinted in one case. Some within 
the compass of the Meeting yet continue to hold slaves; though 
many have manumitted since last year.” 3 


1 Clarkson, pp. 72-73. 
2 Bowden, II, p. 214. 
3 Bowden, II, pp. 214-215. 


82 


CHAPTER VI 


CONCLUSION 


In summarizing the religious forces that were in action at 
the outbreak of the Revolution, there are two factors which stand 
out prominently, which have an important bearing upon the period, 
namely, the development of the dissenting sects after the middle of 
the eighteenth century, and the gradual decline of the Established 
Church, from the standpoint of initiative, power, independence, 
and numbers. The rapid rise to power of the Presbyterian denom- 
ination 1s one of the most remarkable events of the Revolutionary 
period; as it had a strong influence in preparing the people for the 
conflict with England. 

Long before the Revolution came to a crisis, the various 
denominations were divided in their opinions as to certain rights 
and privileges. The divisions were even more marked when 
hostilities began. The Episcopalians, in the main were loyalists, 
together with their cousins, the Methodists. The Quakers remained 
neutral from conscientious scruples throughout the war. The 
Presbyterians and the Baptists were staunch patriots. The 
struggle for religious liberty in America was carried over to the 
war for political liberty, and it really culminated in a contest 
between the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians. 

As to the attitude of the various denominations toward 
education, we may briefly state that the elementary schools were 
non-sectarian; but the higher institutions of learning were under 
the control of the Presbyterians and the Friends. The grammar 
schools were taught by men and women of good moral character, 
but who were not always blessed with a type of knowledge that 
would qualify them to become good teachers. 

The slavery question was practically ignored by all of the 
denominations except the Quakers. The latter sect consistently 
opposed slavery from 1758 up to the close of the Revolution. 
Very few of the Quakers owned slaves at the time of the Revolution. 


83 


bene ee 
. ey rm 





Appendix 


CHURCHES IN DELAWARE IN 1776 


BY DENOMINATIONS 


A. Baptists 


Welsh Tract—New Castle County 
Asplund—Baptist Register, p. 23. 


B. CATHOLICS 


Mount Cuba*—New Castle County 


Records of the American Catholic Historical 
Society of Philadelphia, Vol. 1, p. 128. 


‘Coffee Run, St. Mary’s Chapel—New Castle County. 


C. Episcopalians 
Apoquinimink—New Castle County. 
5.4 Ge OStracts. 1g 70. Dal208 


Cedar Creek—Sussex County. 
5..P): Gas bstracts.i7 76s pe go: 


Dover—Kent County 
S.PsGwAbstracts.:17 70, p20: 


Duck Creek—Kent County. 
9.:P)' Gr Abstracts 770) ps.20, 


Forest Church*—Sussex County. 
oy P GuAbstracts;1 775 pad. 


Indian River—Sussex County. 


5: P, G. Abstracts; 1776; p..29. 


Lewes—Sussex County. 
S. PB. G. Abstracts, 1776, p. 30. 


New Castle—New Castle County. 
ayia bstractsi77onnd0, 


* Churches not definitely located. 


86 


EPISCOPALIANS (Cont.) 


St. Anne—Near Middleton, New Castle County. 
S. P. G. Abstracts, 1774, p. 38. 


St. James—New Castle County. 
So Gua bstractss 17744D.' 25 


St. Matthews*—Sussex County. 
SP. G. Abstracts; 17755 pst. 


St. Paul*—Kent County. 
S. P. G. Abstracts, 1776, p. 30. 


D. LuTHERANS—Swedish 


Wilmington—New Castle County. 
Conrad, Vol. I, p. 309. 


E. QuaKERS—Meeting Houses 

Brandywine*—New Castle County. 
Michener, pp, 102; 95. 

Center*—New Castle County. 
Michener, p. 94. 

Christiana—New Castle County. 
Scharf, p. 940. 

Cold Springs—Sussex County. 
Michener, p. 115. 


Duck Creek—Kent County. 
Scharf, p. 1259. 

George’s Creek—New Castle County. 
Conrad, II, p. 767. 

Hockesson—New Castle County. 
Michener, p. 103. 


* Churches not definitely located. 


87 


QuAKERS (Cont.) 


Lewes—Sussex County. 
Conrad, II, p. 767. 

Little Creek—Kent County. 
Conrad, II, 767. 

Marshy Creek*—Sussex County. 
Michener, p. 116. 

Mispillion—Cedar Creek*—Sussex County. 
Michener, p. I15. 

Motherkill—Kent County. 
Scharf, p. 1130. 

Newark, New Castle County. 
Conrad, II, p. 766. 


Wilmington—New Castle County. 
Conrad, II, p. 767. 


F.—PRESBYTERIANS 


Appoquinimy—New Castle County. 

Gillett, II, p. 3. 
Blackwater—Sussex County. 

Scharf, p. 1342; Sprague, Annals, III, p. 361. 
Brandywine—New Castle County. 

Mackey, White Clay Creek Presbyterian Church, p. 12. 
Christiana Bridge—New Castle County. 

Gillett, II, p. 4; Sprague, ITI, p. 347. 
Cool Springs—Sussex County. 

Scharf, pp. 1231, 1220; Sprague, III, p. 178; Gillett, 

II, 9. 


* Churches not definitely located 


88 


PRESBYTERIANS (Cont) 


Dover—Kent County. 

Sprague, ITI, p. 170; Scharf, p. 1155; Gillett, II. p. 9. 
Drawyer’s Creek—New Castle County. 

Sprague, III, p.301; Gillett, II, p.6; Conrad, II,770-2. 
Duck Creek—Kent County. 

Gillett, I, p. 98. 
Elk River*—New Castle County. 

Mackey, White Clay Creek, p. 12. 
Georgetown—Sussex County. 


Spottswood, Historical Sketch of the Presbyterian 
Church, New Castle, p. 27. 


Head of Christiana—New Castle County. 
Spottswood, p. 27; Mackey, p. 22; Gillett, II, pp. 3-4. 
Indian River—Sussex County. 
Sprague, III, p. 178; Gillett, IT, p. 9; Scharf, p. 1274. 
Laurel—Sussex County. 
Scharf, p. 1329. 
Lewes—Sussex County. 


Gillett, II, p. 9; Sprague, III, pp. 178, 361; Scharf, 
1231. 


Lower Brandywine—New Castle County. 


Jones, Lower Brandywine, pp. 13, 32, 41; Sprague, 
III, 889. 


Middleton—(‘‘Forest Church”)—New Castle County. 
Jones, p. 23, Scharf, p. 889; Webster, p. 578; Conrad, 
ep 773 
Milford—(““Three Runs’”)—Sussex County. 
Gillett, II, p. 9; Conrad, II, p. 773. 


* Churches not definitely located 


89 


PRESBYTERIANS (Cont) 


Mill Creek—New Castle County. 
Mackey, p. 22; Sprague, III, p. 326. 
Murderkill—Kent County. 
_ Sprague, ITI, p. 361; Scharf, p. 1154. 
-Newark—New Castle County. 
Porter, Historical Discourse, p. 5; Sprague, III, p. 301 
New Castle—New Castle County. 
Sprague, III, p. 347; Scharf, p. 1342. 
Pencader*—New Castle County. 
Heberton, History of Elkton Presbyterian Church, pp. 
3-4; Vallandingham, p. 3; Briggs, p. 193; Gillett, 
IT, p. 4; Webster, p. 374. 
Red Clay Creek—New Castle County. 
Jones, pp. 30, 32; Gillett, IT, p. 3. 
Smyrna—Kent County. 
Sprague, III, 170; Gillett, IJ, p. 9. 
St. George—New Castle County 
Miller, Memoir of Rev. Fohn Rogers, p. 105; Webster, 
Bris2 : 
Taylor’s Bridge—New Castle County. 
Scharf, p. 1626; Webster, p. 375. 


Thoroughfare Neck—Kent County. 
Scharf, p. 1026. 


White Clay Creek—New Castle County. 


Jones, p. 22; Gillett, II, p. 3; Spottswood, p. 27; 
Mackey, p. 12. 


Wilmington—New Castle County. 

First Presbyterian Church—Gillett, II, 3; Conrad, II, 
773+ 

Second Presbyterian Church—Gillett, II, p. 3; Sprague, 
IT, °274: 


*Churches not definitely located 


go 


BY COUNTIES 


New CastTLE County 


BaPTISTs 
Welsh Tract 
CATHOLICS 


Mount Cuba — 
Coffee Run 


EPISCOPALIANS 


Appoquinimink 

New Castle 

St. Anne, near Middletown 

St. James, about eight miles from New Castle 


LUTHERANS 


“Old Swedes,” Wilmington 
PRESBYTERIANS 


Appoquinimy 
Brandywine 
Christiana Bridge 
Drawyers’ Creek 
Elk River 

Head of Christiana 
Lower Brandywine 
Middleton 

Mill Creek 
Newark 

Pencader 

Red Clay Creek 
St. George 
Taylor’s Bridge 
White Clay Creek 
Wilmington (two churches) 


gI 


QUAKERS 


Brandywine 
Center 
George’s Creek 
Hockesson 
Newark 
Wilmington 


KENT County 


EPISCOPALIANS 


Dover 
Duck Creek 
St. Paul 


LUTHERANS 


Dover 

Duck Creek 
Smyrna 
Thoroughfare Neck 
Murderkill 


QUAKERS 


Duck Creek 
Little Creek 
Motherkill 


SussEx COouNTY 


EPISCOPALIANS 


Cedar Creek 
Forest Church 
Indian River 
Lewes 

St. Matthews 


92 


PRESBYTERIANS 


Blackwater 
Cool Springs 
Georgetown 
Indian River 
Laurel 
Lewes 


Milford (“Three Runs’’) 
QUAKERS 


Cold Springs 
Marshy Creek 
Mispillion (‘Cedar Creek’’) 


93 


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106 


Diagram showing the number of churches in each County in 1776 







NEW CASTLE KENT ‘ SUSSEX 
EER 
Pose alde b Bish Ca a] 
FR ee 
Pe espa WA 
ER ee 
Sa tedtentl nde A AAD | 
PRE eae 
Sta Re a baal cag 
ei ek sh 
NERS 
RE 
Ls ARGO 0. SEPP 
TS 
ARR 5 <a 
ae ARES) HE 











° 








a miera 
“4 








A—BapTISTS 
B—CaTHOLIcs 
C—LuTHERANS 
D—QUAKERS 
E—EPIscoPALIANS 


F—PRESBYTERIANS 


107 


ned Reed Ronwd Rene 
&) OU OS) 
" 























Ea 
NOMI DB) ENE Nh ORB RG 


Numerical strength of the Patriots, Loyalists and Non-Combatants 
by Counties. 


NEW CASTLE KENT SUSSEX 
New Castle Kent Sussex Total number 
County County County in Del. 
AM Patriots |. 18 4 8 30 
B)-Loyalists: 5 % 5 ii 
Can Non-Comac, 3 3 13 
Total number of — — — — 
Churches...... 30 IO 16 56 


Percentage of Patriots, Loyalists and Non-Combatants, by 
Counties. 














New Castle Kent Sussex Total percent. 

County County County in Del. 1776 
Patriotsie eae 60 (% 1G Ue Pb g hye hee OU 
Loyalists? ayes 38.4% 27 Tee 30 oa Oe 29707, 
Non-Combatants. 53.8% EAA oieyan ays 2222 
All denominations 50.8% 19.8% 29.4% TOO Mt, 


108 


Diagram showing the comparison of the number of churches in each 


denomination in 1776. 














peat] BO] CO) | OT GY] ~3) CO] 


A—BapPTISTS.......1 
B—CaTHOLICs ..... 2 
C—LUuTHERANS ....I 
D—QUAKERS .....12 
E—EPIscoPALIANS....12 


F—PRESBYTERIANS .. .29 


NoTE:—Figures represent number of churches, 





109 






| | 








Numerical strength of Patriots, Royalists and Non-Combatants among the 
various denominations in Delaware in 1776. ! 















ome] BO] G2] dm] CU Gr} ~3/ CO] 





A 


B 








1A—Patriots (Presbyterians and Baptists)...... 30 


B—Loyatists (Episcopalians and Lutherans) .. .13 


C—Non-ComsBaTAnTs (Quakers and Catholics) ..13 


STATISTICAL TABLES: 


1 Numerical Comparison of Denominations by Counties. 








csr eto Ny Stata a anced eceene ESN 
BAPTISTS I I 
CATHOLICS 2 2 
EPISCOPALIANS 4 3 5 12 
LUTHERANS I I 
PRESBYTERIANS  — I7 8 29 
QUAKERS 6 nS: 3 ip) 
Number of 

churches in oad 10 16 57 
each County 


2 Churches according to the population in Delaware, 
in 1776 


Number of churches per 


Denominations Number of Churches thousand population 
BaPpTIstTs I .028 
CATHOLICS 2 .056 
EPISCOPALIANS 12 337 
LUTHERANS I .028 
PRESBYTERIANS 29 able. 
QUAKERS | 12 337 
Totals 57 2.309 


1Approximate Numbers 


Note:—The population in 1776 was 37,219 including slaves 
Number of slaves was 2000 
Number of whites was 35,219 


The above table was based on the white population. 


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INDEX 


ACRELIuS, REV. ISRAEL, (Swedish Lutheran) 51; receives books from S. P. G., 
56. 

APPOQUINIMINCK Mission, established by Jesuits, 7. 

APPOQUINIMINCK EpIscopAL CHURCH, 25. 


Assury, FrAncIs, (Methodist), desires to live in peace, 31; at dedication of 
Methodist Church in Wilmington, 18; first meeting with Thomas 
Coke, 20; opposed to slavery, 77-78. 


Baptists, 1; settlement and growth, 3-5; attitude toward the Revolution, 
21-23; attitude toward education, 52-53; and slavery, 73; help to spread 
liberalism, 53; forbid religions in their college, 53. 


BARRATT’S Chapel, the ‘‘Cradle of Methodism in America,’’ 20; meeting 
place of Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke, 20; the third oldest Meth- 
odist Church in the world, 20. 


ByorikK, (Swedish Missionary), superintends the building of ‘Holy Trinity 
Church,’’ 13; his description of the Church, 13-14. 


BRADFORD, WILLIAM, of the Board of War, Philadelphia, receives letter from 
Rev. Matthew Wilson, 38. 


Bray, Rev. M,, of Maryland, secures charter for propagation of the gospel, 8. 
BROAD CREEK HUNDRED, Church built in, 5. 


CATHOLICS, settlement and growth, 6-7, evidence as to their existence at the 
outbreak of the Revolution, 5-6. 

CHADD’s Forp, battle of, 41. 

CHURCH OF ENGLAND, handicapped, 9; downfall due to Presbyterians, 43; 
becoming unpopular, 56. 

CLARK, a Tory, seized by the Presbyterians, 40; repulsed by the Light In- 
fantry, 40. 


CLoup, Miss, converted under Captain Webb, 19; preaching of Methodism 
at her home, 19. 


CLoup, RoBeErt, one of the first Methodist preachers in Delaware, 19; neigh- 
borhood preaching by the family of, 19-20. 


COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY, the, organization of, 59, 61; policy of, 61. 
Coucn’s BRIDGE, skirmish at, 41. 

COWGILL, JOHN (Quaker) of Duck Creek, arrested, 45. 

CowMARSH, branch of Welsh Tract Church, 5. 

CRANE Hook CuurcH, under Bjork, 13. 


CRAWFORD, REv. THOMAS, efforts for education in Kent County, 55; circulates 
books in Sussex County, 55. 


DAVIES, SAMUEL, (Presbyterian), 14. 


DELAWARE, dispute over title of, 11; loses records in the war, 35; in the path 
of the enemy, 35; religious affairs and civil matters, 36. 


113 


DENOMINATIONS IN DELAWARE, 1; reasons for settling, 9. 


DICKINSON, JOHN, (Quaker), writer of ‘‘Farmers’ Letters,’’ 45; rebukes Parlia- 
ment, 45. 


DISSENTERS (1727), 11; reaction against episcopal ascendency, 23; increased 
numerical strength before the Revolution, 24. 


DRAWYERS’ CREEK CHURCH (Presbyterian) and its plucky pastor, 41, 
Duck CREEK, settlement of Baptists, 5. 


DuFF, COLONEL, on Washington’s staff, 41; plans midnight escape for 
Washington, 42. 

Dutcu, the, object to English minister, 7. 

EDUCATION, in Delaware, 50-71; chief requirements of the curriculum, 50; 
reasons for neglect of, 51; Dutch and Swedish education, 51-52; 
Baptist education, 52-53; Episcopalian education, 53-56; Presbyterian 
education, 56-62; Quaker education, 62-63; private education, 63-71; 
Wilmington Schools, 63-66; Newark Academy (Presbyterian), 66-69; 
Kent County Schools, 69-70; Sussex County schools, 70-71; standards 


raised by Presbyterians, 58; Episcopalian education and its relation 
tO) ChE Sb rn Oo. 


Epwarps, MorGAN, 4; a loyalist, 23; latter part of his life spent in Delaware, 
23; his sons in both armies, 23. 


EPISCOPALIANS, enthusiastic missionaries in early eighteenth century, 9; 
settlement and growth, 7-12; attitude toward the Revolution, 23-31; 
attitude toward education, 53-56; and slavery, 74-76; movement for 
an Episcopacy, 23. 


Evans, THOMAS, a noted deacon, 4; supervises an Academy in Pencader 
county, 52,53. 


FAME, REv. STEPHEN, successor of Father Sittenberger, 7. 


FILson, JAMES, schoolmaster, 65; famous historian in Kentucky, after the 
Revolution, 65. 


ForRSBERG, NILS, schoolmaster, 51. 
FOTHERGILL, (Quaker), rebukes English ministry, 44. 


FURNESS, ROBERT, of New Castle, the first person to welcome Methodist 
preachers into his home, 19. 


GARRETSON, Freeborn, (Methodist) and slavery, 77. 

HALLAHAN, CORNELIUS, 5. 

HAzLeT, COLONEL, of the Delaware Regiment, 40. 

Hoty Trinity Cuurcu, described, 13-14; still standing, 14. 

IMMANUEL CHuRCH, (in New Castle), first permanent Episcopal Church in 
Delaware, 7; tribulations of the early missionaries there. 


INGLIS, REv. M., of New York, formerly of Delaware, accounts for the 
uniformity of the conduct of the Presbyterians, 43. 


JAMES, JAMES, a ruling elder, 4. 


Jones, Rey. Davin, Brigade Captain under General Wayne, 23. 
JONEs, REES, interested in Baptist education, 52. 


KEITH, GOVERNOR WILLIAM (Episcopalian) investigates conditions in Dela- 
ware in behalf of the Church of England, 56. 


KENT CounTy, insurrections in 39-40; few schools in, 69; poor methods and 
poor teachers in, 70. 


114 


LEWES, proposal of Presbytery of, for a college, 57; chief work of Lewes 
Presbytery 58; results of the initiative of Lewes Presbytery, 60. 

LiGHT INFANTRY OF DELAWARE, in charge of Captain Robinson, 39; im- 
prisonment of, threatened by acting Governor, George Read, 40. 

Loc COLLEGE, organization encouraged by Lewes Presbytery, 60; objections 
of adherents to a Synodical College asserted, 60-61; death of William 
Tennant, the President of, 61. 

LOWER BRANDYWINE CHURCH, condition of during the war, 41. 

LOYALISTs in Sussex County, 39. 


LUTHERANS, 2; settlement and growth, 12-14; amalgamated by the English, 
12; Crane Hook Church built by, 12-13; and education, 50-51; and 
slavery, 76-77. 

McCreary, Mr. (Presbyterian), pastor of Head of Christiana Church, 42. 

MeETuHopisTs, 18; not organized into churches, 18; attractive features of, 20; 
settlement and growth, 18-20; attitude toward the Revolution, 31; 
and slavery, 77-78; views of their leader, Francis Asbury, 77-78; 
manumission of slaves by Freeborn Garretson, 77. 

MILEs, COLONEL, in Sussex County, 40.. 

MILLER, Rev. JouN, of Dover, (Presbyterian) 42. 

MISPILLION, branch of Welsh Tract, 5. 


MISSIONARIES, not their own masters, 9; supply several churches, 9-10; 
petitions from Episcopalians for, 10; trials of, 11. 


NEILL, LIEUTENANT HENRY, advises Rev. Wilson to be cautious, 38. 


NEWARK ACADEMY, foundations laid, 66; racial elements of students of, 
66-67; history of, 67; the first principal called ‘‘the greatest classical 
scholar in America,’’ 67; famous men who attended, 67-68; importance 
of, 68; rank as a College of a high type of learning, 68-69. 


OLD ACADEMY OF WILMINGTON, built by chief leaders of the town, 66. 
PEMBERTON, (Quaker), opposes Parliament, 44. 
PENCADER HUNDRED, Baptists in, 3; academy in, 52. 


PHILADELPHIA BAPTIST ASSOCIATION, 21; joined forces with Continental 
Congress, 21-22; offers spiritual and material aid, 22; influence as a 
religious body, 22; united action of, 22; work in the army, 22-23, 


PHILADELPHIA SYNOD, insists that unity means strength, 36; calls for contri- 
butions for a plan of union, 36; caution about foreign ministers. 


PRESBYTERIANS, settlement and growth, 14-16; attitude toward the Revolution, 
32-34; attitude toward education, 56-62; 66-69; attitude toward slavery, 
78-79; vague evidence as to first settlement in Delaware, 14; granted 
right to issue marriage licenses, 11; reasons for emigrating to America, 
14; education of first immigrants, 14; organization, 14-15; beginning 
of effective work in Delaware, 15; Presbyterian ministers ‘‘not in- 
strumental in flaming the minds of the people,’’ 33; did not wish to 
conceal their opinions, 34; advise their societies to have respect for 
the King, 34; advice to their members to maintain the union, 34; 
fighting for civil and religious liberty, 34; patriotism of, in Delaware, 36; 
importance of, in the Revolution, 42; unanimity for independence, 43; 
leadership for civil and religious liberty, 58; requirements for, the 
ministry, 56-58; establish a college, 57; advantages over Episcopalians, 

8 


PRESBYTERY OF LEWES, organized, 15; proposes plans for a college. 


19 5 


PRESBYTERY OF NEW CASTLE, 15; schism (1741), 15. 

QUAKERS, 1, 2; settlement and growth, 16-18; attitude toward the Revolu- 
tion, 43-49; attitude toward education, 62-63, 66; and slavery, 73, 
79-82, 83; meetings interrupted by Episcopal missionaries, 9; number 
of meeting houses in 1776, 17; cause of decline of, 17-18; attitude toward 
war (1755), 18; ‘‘Golden Age,’’ of the Quakers ends, 18; withdrawal 
from the Assembly, 43; methods of, in war time, 43-44; disapproval 
of the Stamp Act, 44; the younger group, 44-45; opposition to war 
(1775), 45, 46; patriotic tendencies, 47; sufferings of Friends, 49; the 
first body to make provision for a school of Industrial Arts, 62; the first 
body to provide for a public school system in America, 62; early laws 
on education, 62; compulsory education, 63; Old Friends’ School 
(built 1748) still standing, 63; general provisions for elementary schools 
63; humane treatment of slaves, 79; careful about religious instruction 
of negroes, 79; effort to liberate slaves (1758), 80; noted Quaker, 
John Woolman, urges freedom of slaves, 80; decided action against 
slavery (1776) 80; Delaware the first country in the world to make a 
special enactment against slavery, 80; first union with other denom- 
inations to abolish slavery, 81; Delaware Quakers cease to buy 
slaves, 82. 

READ, Dr. THomas, and Washington, 41. 

READ, GEORGE, Acting Governor during the Revolution, 40. 

READING, Rev. PHILIP, gives evidence as to the existence of a Catholic 
Church in New Castle County, (1760) and (1775), 6; reports on his 
Church at Appoquinimy, Delaware (1775), 24; proclaims his loyalty 
to the King, and the maintenance of his principles, 24; expresses 
attitude of the clergy toward the Revolution, 24-26; his respect for 
the S. P. G., 27; his reasons for remaining a loyalist, 27; considers the 
prayers for the Congress and for Parliament to be similar, 27; his 
strength of character, 27-30; receives warnings from the people of 
Delaware, 29; has no designs on the new government, 30;-deplores the 
neglect of masters for their slaves, 75. 

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY granted by proprietors in Delaware, New Jersey, Mary- 
land, and Pennsylvania, 15; attracts Presbyterians to America, 15. 


Rosinson, Mr., a loyalist, denied a seat in the Assembly, 39. 
RopceErs, Dr., in the Continental Army, 22-23. 


Ross, GEorGE, of New Castle, gives an account of his Church, (1727), 10; 
his interest in education, 10-11, 54; describes conditions in Delaware 
(1727), 54-55. 


RossITER, REv. JOHN, officer of Rochembeau’s army, 7. 
RUSSELL JOHN, schoolmaster at Lewes, 70. 


SHIPLEY, ELIZABETH, (Quaker), death of, 47; effect of her last words, 47; 
facts of her death published by a whig paper, 47-48; reply of the 
Pennsylvania Ledger, (Tory), 48. 


SITTENBERGER, FATHER MATTHEW, purchased a farm (1772), 7. 
SLAVERY IN DELAWARE, 72-82; laws relating to, 72-73; Baptists and slavery, 


73; Episcopalians and slavery, 74; S. P. G. Workers and slavery, 
74-76; Mr. Pugh deplores the prejudice against slaves, 76. 


SMITH, Rev. M., famous revolutionist, 41. 


SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL, outline of their work, 8; 
sends committee to colonies, 8-9; makes record of dissenters, 9; pur- 


116 


pose, 54; first organization for universal education in Delaware, 54; 
send an allowance for purchase of books, 55; gives aid for education 
until 1770, 56; last service of the Society in Delaware, 56. 


Sounps BAPTIsT CHURCH, 5. 

SPENCER, REv. ELKIN, of St. George (Presbyterian), 42. 

SPpoTTtswoop, REv. DR., eulogizes the Presbyterians in the Revolutionary 
period, 36. 

STILES, REv., EzRA, respecting slavery, 78. 

SussEx CouNTY INSURRECTIONS, 40; reaction against Congress, 40, 

SWEDES SETTLEMENT, 12; and Old Swedes Church in Wilmington, 12-14; 


SYNOD OF PHILADELPHIA, established, 15; influence on Presbyterians in Dela- 
ware, 16; rank of Delaware representation in the Synod, 16. 


SyNopD OF NEW YORK AND PHILADELPHIA, (1775) 16. 


TENNENT, WILLIAM (Presbyterian) President and founder of Log College, at 
Neshiminy, 60. - 


THEDWELL, JOHN, schoolmaster, 64. 

TILTON, Dr. JAMEs, publishes propaganda, 38. 

TORIES IN SUSSEX COUNTY, 39, 

UNION OF THE PRESBYTERIANS (1766), 34; revives the old plan of union for 
the purpose of preserving religious liberty in the colonies, 35. 

WASHINGTON, GEORGE, in New Castle County, 41; Rev. Thomas Reed 
provides means of escape from the enemy, 41-42. 

Way, Mrs. ELIZABETH (Baptist), famous school of, 64. 

WEBB, CAPTAIN, (Methodist), 19; preaching in Delaware, 19. 

WELSH NECK, 4. 

WE LsH TRACT CHURCH (Baptist), 1; first Baptist Church in Delaware, 3; 
progress of, 4; branches of, 4; and education, 52; influence in Phila- 
delphia Baptist Association, 53. 

WESLEY, JOHN, creates antagonism against the Methodists, 31. 

WHIGsS IN DELAWARE, 39, 

WILMINGTON SCHOOLS, 63-64; numerous private schools in, 64; Mrs. Way’s 
school, 64; John Thedwell’s school, 64-65; other noted schoolmasters, 
65; main features of the schools, 65-66; the Old Academy of Wilming- 
ton, 66. 

WItson, MAsTER, (Schoolmaster), 65. 

WILSON, REv. MATTHEW, of Lewes, plans for unity of Presbyterian body, 
recommended as a good study for the Constitution of the Presbyterian 
Church, 37; his influence in the Philadelphia Synod, in civil and 
religious affairs, 37; forbids his family to purchase tea from England, 37; 
a member of a committee to aid Boston, 38; proposed remedy to counter- 
act Tory influence, 38; member of committee of observation. 


YEO, REv. JOHN, at New Castle (1678-1681), 7 


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